What Temporal Prime Directive?
by ElsieJo
Summary: As Janeway does her best to keep her feelings for Chakotay in check, the ship encounters a spacial anomaly that spits out some old friends! Voyager struggles to maintain the timeline, but their fellow exploration-bred Starfleet officers have other plans... including playing matchmaker for the Captain and First Officer. WARNING: WHAT LIES AHEAD IS AN *INCOMPLETE* WORK-IN-PROGRESS!
1. Prologue

Hello there... welcome to "What Temporal Prime Directive?"

**Legal Disclaimer:** Paramount owns these characters, I'm just letting them out to stretch their legs.  
><strong>Personal Disclaimer: <strong>This story should probably, technically, be listed in the crossover section of the website. But I was hesitant because this is really, at the core, a simple J/C story and the crossover-ing is just the backdrop. This being said, (SPOILER ALERT) if you are truly not a fan of The Original Series, then I am afraid my tale is not for you. :(

This is, also, at points, (slightly) parodical. In a healthy way, don't worry!

PROLOGUE

**New Earth**  
><strong>2372<strong>

_"I don't know if I can... define parameters. But I can tell you a story, an ancient legend among my people. It's about an angry warrior who lived his life in conflict with the rest of his tribe. A man who couldn't find peace, even with the help of his spirit guide. For years he struggled with his discontent, but the only satisfaction he ever got came when he was in battle. This made him a hero among his tribe, but the warrior still longed for peace within himself._

_"One day, he and his war party were captured by a neighboring tribe led by a woman warrior. She called on him to join her because her tribe was too small and weak to defend itself from all its enemies. The woman warrior was brave, and beautiful. And very wise. The angry warrior swore to himself that he would stay by her side, doing whatever he could to make her burden lighter. From that point on, her needs would come first. And in that way, the warrior began to know the true meaning of peace."_

That was nearly a month ago; about two months into their exile on the planet they named New Earth. It was a beautiful planet, but in the months preceding the Angry Warrior story, Kathryn had seldom paid its beauty any attention.

Then, with one little made-up ancient legend, Chakotay changed everything.

It felt like a lifetime had passed since that night; they were different now. Their lives were different. And it only took three days.

On the first night, she had emerged from her room, in her pajamas, and had sat down to define parameters. The attraction between them was indisputable and it had, perhaps, always been present. Maybe even from the very moment he popped up for the first time on the viewscreen, while he was on the _Val Jean. _But maybe not that far back; Kathryn couldn't pin-point when it began, but it yet it was always there. Being stranded alone on the planet only amplified it, fueled it, strengthened it – but it certainly didn't create it.

He had let her know that he had no desire to define parameters. Then he told her a story. About an angry warrior who came to know peace. The words of that story would be burned into her memory for eternity; they changed the way she saw him and, somehow, they changed the way she saw herself.

Kathryn was unable, then, to do more than intertwine her fingers with his. It was a simple gesture, but the depth of the intimacy they felt that night wouldn't, couldn't, be something they ever moved past. The feeling had overwhelmed her and brought tears to her eyes. They sat there together, both silently relishing in the moment of their new beginning.

Kathryn and Chakotay both knew that that night was the starting point of a journey that would know no limits.

After some time she had risen to go to bed, but stopped first to lay a kiss on top of Chakotay's head. She had deliberately chosen the most un-romantic of places to lay a kiss, but the aroma of his hair filled her nostrils and long dormant butterflies awakened inside of her. Kathryn had to force herself to move away from him.

Before she left, Chakotay informed her that he was never going to wash his hair again, to which Kathryn had responded with a smile that, in that case, that kiss would be his last.

On the second night, after a day of dreaming up and making plans for their home, Kathryn had quietly pushed the covers off of her, slid out of bed, and tip-toed across the common area to his room. She climbed into his bed, where she discovered her body fit perfectly next to his. They explored the curvatures of each others' faces, but nothing more.

In the morning, they realized that neither had ever slept better. Chakotay asked her to never spend the night away from him again. She responded by requesting him to combine the beds – a project on which he worked tirelessly for the entire day.

On the third night, Kathryn let her hands wander freely, tenderly investigating his body, enjoying the heat of the desire rising inside of her. When she let her hand slip under the fabric of his pajamas, he inhaled sharply and, to her surprise, removed her hand. Chakotay pressed his lips to the hand, and then to her forehead, and even with the layers of cotton between them, she could feel his desire reaching out for her. He whispered that they didn't need to do this; that he would wait. He would give her as much time as she needed to adjust to these new… parameters.

She smiled and rolled on top of him, kissing his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his neck, and then his lips. Two years was foreplay enough, Kathryn told him in a shaky voice. The body under her trembled as they slowly removed clothing, both in awe at every newly revealed area of skin. Their joining was slow, tender, and selfless. It was an experience that neither had experienced before; it felt like the first time. And in many ways, it was.

Afterwards, their eyes welled with tears and they clung to each other as if holding onto a life-raft, both silently vowing to never let this newfound love go.

That was nearly a month ago.

"I love you," Chakotay said abruptly, simply, splashing his hand into the water.

Kathryn laid her head back against his shoulder and grinned. "Oh, really?"

"Really."

"Well, I love you too. Clearly; I'm allowing you in my bathtub."

"I made the bathtub."

"Irrelevant. You gave it to me." They both laughed and Chakotay pulled her closer to him. He had built the tub for one, and getting the two of them to fit was quite a task. Their legs awkwardly pretzel-ed around each other, and Kathryn eventually just let hers hang over the edge. But it was worth it.

"Can you believe we wasted two years up there, keeping our distance?"

"We did what we had to do," she replied, rolling to face him. Water splashed out of the bathtub. "But never again. Now we'll never be apart again."

"You don't care that we're not in space?"

Kathryn thought about it. "I won't lie to you. I miss space; I miss exploring nebulae and making first contact. But if I could have that life back, I wouldn't take it if it meant giving you up. So… no. I guess I don't care that we're not in space."

He kissed her forehead. "Promise me you won't leave me?"

"Where would I go?" she laughed. "Live with the monkey?"

"Just promise."

"I promise," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, her lips finding his. "I promise."


	2. Chapter 1: Here We Go Again

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**HERE WE GO AGAIN**

_**Voyager**_**, Delta Quadrant**  
><strong>December 2377<strong>

"_But you promised," he protested through the downpour of rain. "You promised you wouldn't leave me."_

_She turned away from him, willing the dam behind her eyes not to break. "I know," she whispered, her eyes frantically searching their surroundings for something other than him to focus her gaze on. She was surprised to find them standing, not on New Earth, awaiting transport… but in Engineering. _It shouldn't be raining in Engineering_, she thought absently. _I need to get to environmental controls and…

_He stepped forward and her train of thought came to a screeching halt. "I'm not going to let you do this to us," he said with authority. He took her face in his hands forcefully. She forgot all about the storm on board and offered no resistance; he was so attractive with his dripping hair, his uniform clinging to his body. He leaned close and drew her lips to—_

Kathryn Janeway awoke with a gasp and sat straight up in her bed, stiff as a board. Her vision quickly cleared; she was still in her quarters. She grabbed at her dry clothes and looked up to make sure the ceiling wasn't leaking. It wasn't.

She groaned and slowly lay back down, aggressively smothering her face with a pillow.

Five _years_. It had been five_ years_ – half a decade – since their… romantic excursion on that planet. Five years, one month, and twenty-something days – yet it still snaked its way into her dreams, constantly morphing the facts and blurring the details and awarding her the happy ending that real life denied her. That she denied herself.

She removed the pillow from her face and glared at the ceiling, as if some malevolent god above her had violated her sleep with what could only be described as indiscreet personnel fraternization. "Computer, time."

_"0300 hours."_

She let out an exasperated sigh. Her heart was still racing, and she knew that by the time she was able to coax her mind back to rest, it wouldn't be worth the extra few minutes of sleep.

So she arose angrily and headed straight for the replicator. "Coffee, black." Her voice was laced with such irritation that she momentarily fought the impulse to offer an apology to the machine.

This was the ninth night in a row she had awoken from a dream starring Chakotay and… indiscreet personnel fraternization. At the thought, she blushed and pressed her clammy palms against her face.

Over the course of the last five years, since their return to space, Chakotay had occupied a solid amount of screen time in her dreams. It wasn't unusual, but she fought against it anyway. She sometimes found it was difficult to distinguish her dreams from her real life, though she desperately longed not to have to. She wished she could enjoy the dreams, wrap herself up in the warmth and tenderness of them, but even in the privacy of her own quarters, in the privacy of her own thoughts, she fought the temptation to.

As ridiculous as she knew the notion was, Kathryn was terrified she would run across a telepath or an empath or any other -path and they would be able to read her buried feelings like an open book, and then download them onto PADDs for the whole crew to read.

That somehow at the exact moment she let her mind drift off to unwholesome activities with her first officer, right at that very moment... her mind would be probed and the jig would be up.

So she woke up in a panic every night, embarrassed and ashamed... and slightly horrified.

The truth was, Chakotay didn't need a telepath to tell him what was going on in her head. He could tell the moment Kaythryn walked into the room what mood she was in, whether she was there for work or for play, and he definitely always knew when she was about to say something he wasn't going to agree with.

With a heavy sigh Kathryn downed her coffee and headed to her sonic shower.

…

Chakotay threw punch after punch, but his holographic sparring partner dodged them all.

It was an excellent work-out, but that's not what Chakotay was after. Not this morning. He needed to feel his body connect with something; he needed to _hit_ something. Hard.

He had had another dream about Kathryn last night. Not an all together unusual happenstance for him, but the dreams were getting more and more vivid. And more frequent. They were getting consistently harder to ignore, and Kathryn wasn't making it any easier. Lately she had been... around. An odd feeling, since the two of them generally worked in tandem and often sought each other out after their duty shifts had ended. It wasn't logical to feel that she was _around _any more lately than she had always been; yet Chakotay felt it nevertheless. It seemed that every corner he rounded led to her. Every turbolift he entered he was forced to stand in alone, with her, in all the beautiful, delicate toughness that was Kathryn Janeway. Their lives on _Voyager, _especially for the past five or so years, had been so intertwined that sometimes it was hard to decipher where his life ended and Kathryn's began. He didn't want to decipher it; he didn't want there to be a distinction between their lives at all. They were meant to be one. How could Kathryn not see that?

_She does, _he reminded himself. _She knows we're supposed to be together. _

Deny it though she may try, it was undeniable that some kind of magnetic force had locked onto them. It never stopped pulling them together. Chakotay felt an all-too-familiar helpless frustration bubble up within him and he fought to compose himself and push it back down, trying to force his mind back into the ring, back into the moment.

Instead, he felt the force behind his opponent's glove as it collided with his cheek and sent him tumbling backwards, falling onto the ropes. He let out a groan and remained draped over the edge of the ring, feeling about five different degrees of defeat mixing in with his frustration. The other boxer removed his protective helmet.

"Commander, I do believe that is the first time I have been able to hit you."

Chakotay spit out his mouthguard, the sting of his opponent's glove still throbbing on his cheek. "Yeah. Congratulations," he said bitterly.

"I don't think it's supposed to be that easy."

Chaktoay glared at the hologram. "No, it's not."

He removed his helmet and stepped out of the ring, heading to a punching bag. Apparently, today, he needed a stationary target.

His opponent followed him. "Your mind wasn't in our game, Commander. You never give up like that. You usually beat me at expert level, but today you set me to novice. And I won."

"Do you have a point?"

"I'm only asking because I'm concerned."

"Well, thank you, but I'm fine." Chakotay turned his focus from the overly-curious holographic boxer to the punching bag. He let his hand connect with the bag, his whole weight behind it, and a modicum of frustration melted away. Another punch. And another. Gradually his emotions began to lighten.

"I do not believe you're fine."

"Computer, del-"

"Commander! There's no need to delete me. I'm only trying to help. Lady troubles, is it?"

Chakotay glared again. "No."

The hologram sat down on a bench and watched Chakotay throw himself at the bag. "Ah, lady troubles. I'm no stranger to the failed romance, Commander, if you want to discuss such matters with me. Perhaps I could be of help?"

Chakotay's comm-badge beeped._ "Janeway to Chakotay."_ He paused, mid-punch. The sound of her voice washed over him and he smiled as a common mixture of emotions coursed through him. As painful as it sometimes was to be in the room with her - but not _with _her - there was no place in the universe he preferred to be.

"So that's the lady?" the hologram asked. "She sounds cute. Maybe she has a sister?"

"Computer, end program." He tapped his badge. "You're up early, Captain," he said cheekily. He could almost see her rolling her eyes at him.

_"Well, yes. I am. May I come in? Or are you running a mutiny simulation?" _

Chakotay paused, his mind jumping to warp. She wanted to join his holodeck time. That was unusual. Maybe he wasn't going crazy after all; maybe she really was around more lately than she had ever been before. Maybe that was on purpose. _Maybe_… she was waving a white towel, calling out surrender in the unnecessary battle she had made for herself. There was never any reason they couldn't be together, he had known that from the beginning. How long were they stranded out here when he asked her, point blank, if she planned on pairing off? _With him, _he wanted to say, but didn't. That was long before New Earth.

"Computer, activate program Chakotay-six-alpha." He tapped his comm-badge again, "I thought you'd never ask."

…

She was on her way to Astrometrics, where she was sure Seven of Nine would already be mapping out charts and maximizing efficiency, but Janeway wandered first into the mess hall, where Neelix was busily preparing breakfast for the crew whose shifts were about to start.

He caught sight of her from behind the kitchen and smiled. "Good morning, Captain Janeway!" She couldn't help but grin at the enthusiasm in his voice. "You're up mighty early."

He could say that again.

"Good morning, Mr. Neelix. What's in store for us this morning?" she inquired as she lifted herself onto her tip-toes to sneak a peak at his kitchen full of steaming pots and pans.

"An Earth delicacy, Captain! Scrambled eggs with ham, mixed in with some leola root! Oh, and, per the request of the Parises over there, chocolate chip pancakes."

He flipped one into the air and caught it right back on the spatula, exuberance emanating from his very core. She was equally amused as she was impressed with her Talaxian morale officer, as always. What had they done to deserve him? His smile seemed to melt away all of her inner angst and she thought, not for the first time, that Neelix was a more-than-adequate substitute for a ship's counselor.

For a moment she rested her chin in her palm and grinned adoringly at him. He welcomed it and basked in her approval before offering her a plate.

"Sure, why not? Tell me you have coffee brewing back there." Neelix clapped his hands at her request and returned with a plate full of leola root scramble and a stack of pancakes with little brown specs. And, most importantly, a steaming cup of coffee. "Neelix... these eggs are blue," Janeway said, eyeing the food accusingly. Neelix just nodded excitedly.

"They're replicated from a very special egg on Talax, the egg of a _wontir_... not unlike the chicken on your planet. Just a great deal meaner," he chuckled. "Trust me, you'll like these better." Janeway smiled diplomatically but she highly doubted it.

She scanned the room for Chakotay, but her eyes settled on Tom and B'Elanna in the corner, leaning across the table and talking to each other in hushed tones; a case that seldom, if ever, didn't lead to trouble. B'Elanna abruptly placed a hand on her swollen stomach and quickly guided Tom's hand to the same spot. Tom grinned in that foolish, awe-struck way new or soon-to-be fathers often do.

The sight of the budding family warmed Janeway's heart, but also made her whole body ache for a life that she wanted so desperately but might never come to know. Subconsciously, she let her hand flutter down to momentarily rest on her own abdomen.

How many times had she dreamt about what their children would look like? How many times had she seen them grow up from adorable, dimpled babies to beautiful, intelligent adults? They would have the faith that Chakotay held so dearly but that had always eluded Kathryn. They would have her sense of control, her sense of purpose, her unshakable moral compass. How many times had she watched Chakotay rock their crying baby to sleep? How many times had she climbed into a tiny bed, surrounded by children with caramel skin (and one with blue), and read a bedtime story?

And how many times had she woken up, heartbroken to find herself utterly, eternally alone?

It was a forbidden life she wanted with a forbidden lover.

Janeway shook her head, forcing the thought out of her mind and made her way over to the helmsman and engineer.

Tom pulled up an extra chair to their table upon her approach. "Captain Janeway! Good morning! You're up early," he said, echoing Neelix.

Janeway raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "I suppose I am."

"Well, it's always a pleasure to see your wonderful, bright shining face before reporting for duty." The Captain and B'Elanna rolled their eyes. "Have you had a bite of your green eggs and ham?" asked Tom with a grin.

She could tell by his voice it was meant to be a joke, albeit one that went over her head. She humored him and laughed anyway; no doubt a reference to an obscure 20th century science fiction film.

"It's an early morning for everyone today, I guess," B'Elanna informed her. "We saw Seven of Nine on her way to Astrometrics on our way here, but no surprise there. Harry is sitting in your chair playing our fearless leader, and Chakotay said last night he planned to squeeze in his holodeck time before his shift started with the rest of us. He's probably there now..."

Without thought, she arose and excused herself from the table.

"With all the productivity happening, I might as well find something to do myself. You know what they say, 'The idle mind is the Devil's playground.' Please, Tom, help yourself to the blue eggs and ham," she said with a pat on his back. The couple watched as their captain abruptly bounced off.

"She's probably on her fifth cup of coffee by now, and on an empty stomach," B'Elanna offered a baffled Tom as an explanation.

…

Captain Janeway arrived at Holodeck Two and was about to intrude uninvited when she suddenly thought better of it. He might be running something he didn't want her to see. She tapped her comm-badge, "Janeway to Chakotay."

_"You're up early, Captain,"_ he responded.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, yes. I am. May I come in? Or are you running a mutiny simulation?"

The silence lasted a moment too long, and she blushed. How ridiculous of her to assume he would want to share his holodeck time. She opened her mouth, about to make up an excuse to run off and spare him the awkwardness, but he spoke first.

_"I thought you'd never ask."_ She could hear the grin in his voice.

Kathryn walked through the doors and found herself in an alarmingly familiar setting: it was a holographic representation of their home on New Earth. She inhaled sharply and searched her mind for a reason to leave, her Starfleet-trained instincts suddenly kicking in and driving her to retreat; as one always did when victory in battle was unattainable. If he started pushing at the walls she built, she was genuinely worried they might fall right over.

Every time he took her here, to this holoenvironment, to holoprogram _Chakotay-six-alpha_, it was an overwhelmingly bittersweet experience and she found her heart aching for him. Today was no different. Instantly, she felt ashamed for letting her mind make such a fuss over a few inappropriate dreams whilst Chakotay sat diligently, patiently, day after day waiting for her.

He had had a few short-lived romances, and while it was something they didn't talk about, she knew he felt like he was betraying her every time. He couldn't enjoy her, he couldn't enjoy other women, and both realities pained her.

"Hey-ho Kathryn!" Chakotay yelled from somewhere in the distance.

She laughed as he made his way over to her. "Well, howdy there, Chakotay. When B'Elanna said you were on the holodeck this early, I had imagined you were doing something... important," she teased.

"This is important." His tone was suddenly serious. "I _was_ running a boxing simulation, but when I heard your voice I switched to this program." He was scanning her face and she could tell he was choosing his next words carefully. "_Our_ program."

Kathryn breezed past the sentiment, "There was no need to change for my account, I just wanted to drop by and say 'good morning' before the day began." Chakotay stared at her and she began to get nervous. "I have a feeling something BIG is going to happen today." She waved her hands to accentuate the thought. He still remained serious, and Kathryn felt her stomach flop.

Chakotay moved forward. "It's been a while since we've had a visit to our old beige home in the wilderness. I thought you might welcome the chance to do so." His voice was quiet, and filled with a million questions he didn't dare ask – not yet, anyway; now he was just testing the waters. It was a familiar dance.

She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or her heightened sense of Chakotay-awareness in light of the dreams, but he was coming off awfully brave this morning, and she wasn't sure why.

"I do... I loved this place, Commander." Kathryn gently emphasized his rank, using his pips to build an invisible barrier. An old, tired tactic, but he broke eye-contact with her and she could tell the effort was not lost on him. Her point made, she sought to brighten the mood once again. "And you even re-created my primate friend. _And_ the bathtub!"

"If we can't be just Kathryn and Chakotay _here_, then where can we be?" he asked softly.

She wondered where this was going and how long she should let it go on. It was unfair to demand patience and reserve from him indefinitely; she understood his feelings as they mirrored her own, and most of the time she could handle his lapses into the past without breaking down herself.

_Lapses into the past? _That wasn't particularly accurate. It had been just slightly over five years since they had returned to space, leaving this life behind, but while their budding physical relationship had been left on the planet, abandoned along with her budding tomatoes, their emotional one never faltered.

It was hard, at first, to continue working side-by-side as captain and first officer while their emotions and wounds were still raw, but they had gradually slipped into their familiar routines. Their dinners found a new regularity, and after some time had passed - weeks? months? a year? Kathryn wasn't sure - those dinners were no longer painful. They could be alone together without being consumed by their mutual desire to _be_ together. That pain they once felt had evolved into a love that was deeper, more powerful, more profound than the love they had first discovered and awakened on New Earth.

However, there had been occasions when Chakotay had lost sight of the bigger picture. When he forgot that it _wasn't _just Kathryn and Chakotay, but rather an entire ship. An entire crew; whose lives were depending on them keeping level heads. His lapses came mostly after one of them had been faced with death or individual peril of some kind, and he responded by storming into her Ready Room or waking her up in the middle of the night to tell her that she was being foolish; that love conquers all, and their love would be able to stand up against the pressures of space.

After their shuttlecraft had crashed and Kathryn had "died" while an alien attempted to lure her into his matrix, for example. That night… that was the most fragile he had ever been. All she wanted to do was take the broken pieces of his heart and put them back together again. It had been incredibly difficult to walk away from him that night, but it also reaffirmed her fears: that they wouldn't be able to keep level heads while the other one was in danger, and, out here in the Delta Quadrant, danger was their only constant.

He had disagreed entirely. He told her that the experience was a reminder that their years together were finite, and she was consciously throwing away a lifetime of happiness in favor of a lifetime of loneliness – no matter how long or short that lifetime was.

His lapses didn't come often, and the rest of the time he was perfectly content with the depth of their friendship. Well, perhaps not _perfectly _content, but content. And when it did happen, she steeled herself and handled him tenderly; waited for it to pass.

Kathryn always remained calm and in control. She was _his_ captain, too, after all, and she owed him as much. She remained calm and in control until she was out of sight, alone, and then she allowed herself to weep for him – until all her tears were shed and her fragments of weakness stripped away, leaving nothing but duty in its place.

But… lately she was finding it more and more difficult to keep her feelings locked away in a box; lately her heart was yearning for him. Her soul, if such a thing exists. And her head just wouldn't shut up about it.

He opened his mouth to continue talking but she shook her head and he stopped.

Kathryn cautiously took a step towards him and saw the mistiness in his eyes, and she let the invisible walls crumble a little. She took his hand in hers and squeezed tightly. They stood there like that, holding hands, in silence, for what seemed like days. Their gazes locked onto each other and Kathryn allowed her eyes to transmit to him the depths of emotion she wouldn't dare let stumble out of her lips. The birds chirped in chorus and their hearts pounded in sync. When she felt tears well up in her own eyes, she slowly removed her hand and let it run up the length of his arm until her palm was resting against his chest, over his heart. A familiar gesture; it was a silent vow, an unspoken oath, a secret pledge – its promises known only to them.

Then, in another heartbreakingly familiar scene, Kathryn turned and walked away.

…

"What're you working on, Seven?" the child asked from her perch atop a console.

Seven looked up at Naomi Wildman and replied, "I am gathering data."

"Data about what?"

"About space."

"What about space?"

She paused before answering. "I am searching for any form of discrepancy to what we have already ascertained about this sector of the quadrant." She formulated the answer that held the most promise of silencing the child.

Naomi cocked her head. "What have we already ascertained about this sector of the quadrant?"

Of course, Seven had made miscalculations in the past – when it came to humans, not when it came to actual arithmetic.

"Naomi Wildman, why have you left your collective?

"You are my collective."

Before the former drone could offer a rebuttal, something caught her eye. _A discrepancy_. She moved to investigate, but Harry's voice came over the intercom first.

"_Seven – are you seeing what I'm seeing?"_

…

It was a long walk from the holodeck to the Bridge.

She was tired. Exhausted. Not from lack of sleep; that was normal. It was nothing some coffee couldn't fix. If it wasn't Chakotay keeping her up at night, it was a different problem.

She grimaced at the thought; Chakotay wasn't a problem. Chakotay… Chakotay was a solution. Her solution. Her solution to forty years of heartbreak and perpetually unfulfilled dreams. And he was never more than a few feet away from her, yet always out of reach.

She was tired. Tired of pretending not to care. Tired of holding him back when she should be holding him close. Tired of waiting for their return to Earth; tired of sacrificing the present for a future that might never come.

Sometimes, before bed, she would press herself against the wall that separated their quarters and strain to listen to the sound of his movement. Most nights there came a brief period of silence on the other side of the wall, and she imagined he was pressed up against his side, straining to hear _her_ activity. Sometimes she could swear she heard a sigh when no noise came.

And it was at those moments when Kathryn briefly wished for another life, a different reality; one where she was allowed to love and be loved, one where she was never sent to capture the man pressed up against the other side of the wall. But in that reality, she still wouldn't have Chakotay. She would have someone, perhaps, but not him. She would never have known him.

And if the alternative was no Chakotay at all, she would choose this reality every time.

She took a deep breath as the turbolift came to a halt, readying herself. She strolled onto the bridge like she was entering her living room, uniform pressed and not a single hair dared step out of line. Any residual self-loathing that had been brought about by her dreams and encounter with Chakotay on the holodeck dissipated when her smile met the smiles of her bridge crew.

Harry arose from the captain's chair and hid the disappointment on his face poorly; she was arriving almost an hour and a half before her duty shift, but she had no intention of cutting short Harry's command time.

"Relax, Ensign Kim," she said with her palm raised. "I woke up much too early and with nothing better to do with my time, I am off to catch up on some reports in my Ready Room. I'll see you when your duty shift is over," she said with a warm smile.

"Actually, Captain, I was just about to comm you. We picked up a disturbance on subspace bands a little while ago, and we altered course just slightly to be able to pick it up on long-range sensors. Verteron emanations, tunneling secondary particles-"

"A wormhole!" Janeway already knew where this was going and she followed Harry over to his usual station.

"It's a bit of a detour, about four parsecs, but it's looks promising."

"Alter course, Harry." She put a hand on his shoulder. "There isn't a wormhole out there small enough to get past our Harry Kim. When we get back to the Alpha Quadrant you might consider focusing your whole career on them."

Harry beamed. "Thank you, Captain."

"I am still going to head to my Ready Room and read over the latest _Voyager_ news. Call me if there are any significant changes in the readings, and, if not, I'll see you again at 0800." Harry nodded dutifully.

She waited until the doors shut behind her before she sank deeply into her chair. There was a mountain of information to get through. She tapped her fingers on her desk and absently allowed her mind wander, and when she felt it wandering back to her first officer, she grabbed a PADD and started reading furiously.

…

"Are wormholes really rare or something?" asked Naomi.

"No," Seven replied. "They are not. The Borg have witnessed tens of thousands. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just everyone gets so excited about them… If they're not super special, then why do we care so much?"

Seven looked at Naomi proudly, pleased she had seen and called out the illogicality that ran rampant around her. "The crew is hopeful that we will encounter a wormhole that leads to the Alpha Quadrant."

"Do you think we will?"

"The likelihood of that occurring is 345633—"

"I get it, I get it. It's a big number. Sometimes I think people are too focused on getting to the Alpha Quadrant." Naomi paused with youthful contemplation, then added, "We should just enjoy the day."

"I agree," Seven replied, her focus honed in on the scans before her. The readings were fluctuating rather oddly… perhaps there was something unique about this particular anomaly.

The child sighed. "But if we get home, then the captain and commander can finally be in love."

Seven looked up again sharply, jostled unexpectedly from her thoughts. "Why do you say this?" she questioned.

Naomi shrugged. "My mom says that there is some kind of rule about captains getting involved with their sub-sub…"

"Subordinates," Seven supplied.

"Right. That. And my mom says I'm just being silly but I think it's clear that they want to be in love. And I think she thinks it, too, but she doesn't want to tell me. She probably thinks it's too grown-up for me. But… if they _do_ want to be in love, they can't do anything about it until they are back home, right?"

"That is a correct assessment."

"Maybe that's why the captain is so excited to get home. So she can live happily ever after," Naomi offered simply.

Seven met Naomi's eyes thoughtfully. "Perhaps."

…

She was almost through all of the PADDs when she heard Harry's frantic voice come over the intercom.

"Captain," he forced out breathlessly, "something is coming through the wormhole. A _photon torpedo_ is coming through the wormhole. It's still too far away to get a clear visual on but-" she was already up and headed towards the door "-but it's- it's.. you're not going to believe this-"

She was on the bridge.

Tom had arrived and taken over at the helm and she stood behind him. "On the viewscreen," she demanded. "Maximum magnification."

Sure enough, she watched as the torpedo, barely a glowing pebble on the screen, exploded just outside of the mouth of the wormhole.

"Captain, there's a vessel emerging."

The turbolift doors opened and Chakotay and Tuvok walked onto the bridge just in time to hear Harry stutter out, "There is too much subspace interference to get a reading on that ship, but that torpedo... I- I think it was a Federation torpedo."

Chakotay furrowed his eyebrows and Tuvok raised one of his as they took in the situation playing out on the viewscreen.

"Harry, what do you mean you _think_?" Janeway asked without taking her eyes off the ship that was slowly arriving in their side of space. It was still much too small to see any real detail. Chakotay, wide-eyed, sat down silently in his chair.

"I don't understand what I'm reading. It's unlike any Federation signature I've seen before, yet it's definitely a Federation signature, but the photon radiation... it's... outdated," Harry offered. "If that's a Federation ship, it's not adhering to weapons regulations."

Janeway crossed her arms, her focus still on the screen. "There's no other ship; who are they firing at?"

"They don't appear to be firing at anyone, Captain."

Chakotay turned his focus from the viewscreen to the computer next to his seat. "The ship seems to have come to an all-stop."

"The ship seems to be involuntarily stuck at the mouth of the wormhole," Tuvok cooly corrected. "The opening is closing on the ship, and it would appear that they are attempting to reverse back into the anomaly. My readings indicate it is losing structural integrity. Its hull will breach in 6.53 minutes."

"Full impulse, Tom. Get us within tractor range. We'll worry about who they are later; just get that ship out of there!" Janeway ordered, taking her seat next to Chakotay.

Chakotay continued to look at his computer. "We're going to need all the power we can get. That ship is fighting with everything it's got and not moving a millimeter."

"Janeway to Engineering," she said with a tap of her comm-badge. Her eyes remained glued to the tiny ship. "B'Elanna, we need everything you can possibly give to that tractor beam."

_"Understood, Captain. Shutting down all nonessential systems and re-routing power to the beam."_

Janeway, unable to remain seated, stood up and moved again towards the viewscreen. "Tom, the moment we lock onto that ship, take us into full reverse. We don't know where that ship came from and we don't want to risk getting pulled into the wormhole with it."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll put the pedal to the metal."

_"Seven to the Bridge,"_ the Borg's voice came over the intercom. _"Captain, I am reading an influx of chroniton particles radiating from the vessel."_

With this development, the Captain felt her stomach flop for the second time this morning. The mystery ship had more than likely been temporally displaced.

"Acknowledged." Janeway looked back and locked eyes with Chakotay, who cocked a grin and sighed. _Here we go again_, she thought.

The crew watched in awe as the vessel came quickly, finally, into visual range. It was clearly Federation. When the markings became visible, every heart in the room stopped. Janeway put a hand on Tom's shoulder to keep steady. It was still fuzzy, but the crew could make out its label: _U.S.S. Enterprise._

The tractor beam locked onto the _Enterprise _and there was a jolt as Tom put _Voyager_ in full reverse. It was Harry that excitedly voiced the crew's hopes, "Starfleet must have found a way to reach us... And they sent none-other than Picard and the _flagship_ of the Federation to bring us home."

"There is insufficient evidence to support that hypothesis, Ensign," Tuvok countered. "They are experiencing some degree of temporal displacement, and it would be a direct violation of the Temporal Prime Directive to send a ship backward in time to retrieve us. I do not believe Starfleet would allow such an action. I recommend we delay idle speculation until we have something tangible to speculate about."

Janeway watched as the ship began to pull away from the swirling lights of the verteron emanations. Within moments, the anomaly disappeared and the ship came into full view at their port bow. Her entire body tightened. Chakotay felt himself tense up with her, but he didn't know why. The commander studied the back of her head and waited for some kind of verbal response to what they were seeing.

"No," she said barely audibly, "that's not Picard."


	3. Chapter 2: What in Blazes

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**WHAT IN BLAZES  
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**The _Enterprise, _Alpha Quadrant**  
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"Mr. Scott, I need everything's she's got! Get us out... of… here!" Kirk shouted into the intercom on his chair as the lights swirled in a vortex on the viewscreen. Red lights were flashing in front of him and on every console on the bridge. His forehead shined with sweat.

_"Cap'n, if I push her any more the warp core will blow! She can't take anymore of this!"_ his chief engineer shouted back.

"Get creative, then, Mr. Scott," Kirk said through his teeth as he slammed down his fist to end the comm signal.

"Sensors indicate we are more than half-way through this anomaly. We should be emerging on the other side in approximately three minutes," Spock stated calmly. The ship's vibrations began to violently increase.

McCoy's voice came over the intercom, _"Jim, what in blazes is-_"

"Not now doctor!" Kirk barked. He watched helplessly as the lights continued to swirl around them, sucking them into only God knows where. They had been traveling for days without so much as a plasma storm, nothing on the sensors, when Spock had discovered a spacial disturbance and recommended they investigate. Kirk had allowed it, and then out of nowhere this anomaly appeared in front of them and snatched the unwilling _Enterprise_ with the force of something fierce. "Where, exactly, Mr. Spock,_ is_ the other side?"

"Insufficient navigational data at this time, Captain."

"Mr. Spock, if we shoot a torpedo out into the anomaly do you think the blast would be enough to propel us back the other way?"

"The torpedo would have to detonate before it reaches the other side, and we are approaching that point rapidly. If my calculations are correct-"

"Mr. Chekov, fire a photon torpedo straight ahead!"

Chekov complied, but the torpedo disappeared too quickly and the ship barely shook as it exploded outside the anomaly. Spock looked knowingly at Captain Kirk and raised an eyebrow, then turned back to bury his head in his scanner.

"We will reach the other side in 10,021km... 9,768km... 8,943km...," he counted down flatly.

Kirk slammed his fist back down on his intercom, "All decks, brace for impact." The swirling lights dispersed from the screen and the stars reappeared as they were catapulted into unknown space. The ship came to an abrupt halt and everyone on the bridge struggled to grab on to something to keep from falling. "Chekov, where are we?"

"I don'd know, sir... Vee have entered uncharted territory, our navigational sensors are nod registering _anyzhing_ and zhee chronometer seems to be malfunctioning. According to zhis, vee have gone _from_ Stardate 6534.8 and vhere it shows zhee current time, it vill not stop spinning! But, Keptin, it eez spinning forward. I zhink vee have traveled to... to zhee future. But zhere is no vay to dell how far."

"Fascinating..." Spock said, straightening. "According to our readings, it appears we have been thrown through a wormhole that has displaced us from our previous position in the space-time continuum." To everyone else on the Bridge, Spock remained emotionless and calculated, but Kirk heard clearly the curiosity in his First Officer's voice and his own mind echoed it. But for the safety of the_ Enterprise_ he knew he had to get back to where they belonged before the anomaly closed and they would be trapped somewhere in foreign space, possibly in the future, indefinitely.

Kirk once again tapped into contact with Engineering. "Mr. Scott, report. We need enough power to-"

_"Cap'n, I'm afraid that isn't an option. The pressure outside is goin' to crush us before we have a chance to go anywhere. At this rate, with all the power routed to the shields, they will collapse in less than seven minutes._"

Spock moved from his console to stand beside the Captain. "He's right, Jim. 6.53 minutes to be exact."

"Suggestions, speculations, anything, Spock?" he begged.

"I am picking up another wessel, Keptin." A jolt hit the ship and Chekov exclaimed, "Keptin! Vee are being tractored by zhee other sheep!"

Captain Kirk jumped up from his chair. "Chekov, arm phasers - but don't fire. We don't know if they're here to help us or to capture us." For all they knew, they had been flung into the Neutral Zone. "Sulu, on screen."

Sulu frantically pressed buttons and there she was - a Federation ship, at least it looked like one, albeit one Kirk had never seen. He breathed a sigh of relief. _At least we know we're in the same quadrant. _The ship read _U.S.S. Voyager_. Kirk had never heard of it, and a sideways glance at Mr. Spock told him neither had he. Hopefully things were as they appeared, but with their sensors already malfunctioning, a myriad of possibilities flooded Kirk's mind. It could be a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, but instead of being cloaked to appear invisible, they had found a way to disguise themselves as a Federation ship. It would explain why the _Enterprise_ wasn't getting a reading on it.

The turbolift doors opened and McCoy stumbled onto the bridge looking furious and disheveled. "Jim, where the hell are we?"

"Still trying to figure that out, Bones." His voice was calm and assured.

"Fascinating," Spock repeated, looking back at his scanners. "This vessel is almost completely comprised of technology that our sensors do not recognize."

"Well, Mr. Spock," Kirk said with a sly smile, "it wouldn't be the first time Starfleet kept us in the dark about the new and exciting things our engineers are busy dreaming up and building. Hail them."

"Aye, Captain," Uhura said, bewildered. She held her hand to her earpiece. "_U.S.S. Voyager_, this is the starship _Enterprise._ Do you read me?... Come in, _Voyager_. Repeat: This is the Federation starship _Enterprise_, hailing _Voyager._ Come in, _Voyager._" She turned some knobs and looked up confused. "Captain, they're not responding to our hails. All I'm getting is static."

Yet another pang of doubt struck at Kirk's gut, but there was still no reason to assume this ship was hostile. "Maybe the tractor beam is interfering with their communications system, or maybe the subspace interference from the anomaly is scrambling the signal. Set the message on repeat until they respond," he directed to Uhura. She nodded. Something was amiss, but he wasn't sure what. His instinct said that this ship was here to help, or they could have easily blown them to pieces as they sat helpless at the mouth of the anomaly... but the mystery surrounding "_Voyager_" hung like an ominous cloud around the foreign vessel.

"Captain!" Uhura exclaimed. "They're responding to our hail! Audio only!"

Kirk, realizing he had been holding his breath, finally exhaled. "On the loud speaker, Lieutenant."

"_U.S.S. Enterprise_, this is the Federation starship _U.S.S. Voyager_. Come in, _Enterprise_. This is the Federation starship..." but the man's voice trailed off into static.


	4. Chapter 3: I Hate Time Travel Episodes

**CHAPTER THREE:**

**I HATE TIME TRAVEL EPISODES**

Tom glanced down at his console and his eyes widened. "They're hailing us, Captain."

"Make it seem like we're not receiving the signal, Mr. Paris. Send out a message saying, 'Come in _Enterprise_, come in,' but then just give them static. Put it on repeat so it seems like we're trying to respond but our comm system is malfunctioning."

"Captain?" asked Tom incredulously.

"Do it," Janeway demanded and sealed with her patented this-is-not-up-for-discussion glare. Tom nodded.

Neelix bounced off the turbolift followed by a much more stoic Seven.

"Perfect timing," she called in their direction. "Senior officers, to the Briefing Room."

Before she could tap her comm-badge, she heard Chakotay summon B'Elanna. Then after a pause, and with a teasing glance at her, he called the Doctor too, lest the hologram feel left out. She quietly grinned back at him. He seemed to have shaken off the effects of their encounter this morning, and she was relieved. As always, they fell into their places, into their ranks, comfortably and effortlessly. Before anything else they might someday be to each other – they were a team. Always a team.

Everyone followed the captain, and before anyone had taken their seat the room was filled with a chorus of animated voices.

"Everyone, quiet," she snapped curtly. "I'm sorry, I know this is exciting for all of us, but we're going to need to make some decisions here very quickly before the_ Enterprise_ gets too suspicious of our false hails. As I'm sure you all have gathered from your own separate readings, the _Enterprise_ is experiencing more than _slight_ temporal displacement. As I am sure you all know by now, I hate temporal mechanics and would like to get them back to their own time period without adding yet another Temporal Prime Directive violation to our logs."

She clasped her hands and shook them pleadingly, "I don't want any visits from the Department of Temporal Investigations, or from the Temporal Integrity Commission, or from absolutely anyone else. I know they came to us, but we need to treat the situation as if _we_ had been sent back in time." The doors opened to B'Elanna and the Doctor. "Now that everyone's here, let's hear the suggestions."

Janeway plopped into her seat and refused to return Chakotay's stare, suddenly worried again that he could sense her private thoughts, which were at the moment filled with nothing but trepidation. And a tiny, _tiny_ kernel of something else – excitement, perhaps? Whatever the consequences of the _Enterprise_'s surprise visit, however dire those consequences may be, a dream she had harbored since childhood was being realized.

"I'm confused," Harry chirped. "If it's not Picard on that ship, who is it?"

"Oh, c'mon Harry," Tom drawled. "Don't you know anything about Starfleet history? That's a Constitution-class ship. The very first. Well, third. The one and only Captain... James... T... Kirk," Tom said with dramatic emphasis on each part of the name. Janeway smiled as Harry's eyes grew wide. The surprise and awe that washed over the room was evident.

"Captain Kirk..." B'Elanna whispered in reverence.

The same sentiment was echoed throughout the room until Neelix interrupted. "Excuse me, who, exactly, is this Captain Kirk?"

Chakotay chuckled. "You mean to tell me that in all your research about Starfleet history you never ran across a file on James T. Kirk?"

"We can discuss history at a later time, gentlemen. Seven, did you gather any useful information on the anomaly? Why did the wormhole appear and then disappear so quickly? Is there any way to extrapolate its next appearance?"

"I am unable to offer an explanation at this time, but I will return to Astrometrics and run more simulations," Seven said grimly. "It is... unlike anything the Borg have witnessed before." Janeway could tell the ex-drone didn't like admitting that she was stumped. Not one bit.

"All right. Harry, return to Astrometrics with Seven and see if you guys can make heads or tails of the phenomenon. B'Elanna, I want a full report on the damage sustained by the _Enterprise_ as a result of the conduit, if you can call it that."

"Are we going to assist them with their repairs?" asked B'Elanna, trying, and failing, to mask the hope in her voice.

Janeway shook her head. "Not yet, no. But I want to know what they're up against. Doctor, run bio-scans on the effects of the chroniton radiation coming off the ship. Neelix, Chakotay, Tom, pull up every single log entry, every single report from the _Enterprise_'s records and see if you can find any hint of what we're supposed to do. Become experts on their customs, technology, everything. If we are going to help them, we need to be very careful to not contaminate them with new information."

The captain stood back up and locked eyes with each of them. "Remember, we have time on our side here. _We_ are the constant, and _they_ are variable. _We_ are where we are supposed to be. We _know_ that the _Enterprise_ doesn't disappear in the midst of that famous five-year mission, and therefore we must assume that we will be successful in sending them back."

Chakotay tilted his head in thought. "Captain, are you suggesting that this is some kind of time loop? A pre-destination paradox? That we were _meant_ to interfere? That our _lack_ of action will corrupt the time-line?"

Janeway pinched the top of her nose and shook her head again. "I don't know, Commander. But I do know that we are now involved, whether we like it or not, and if we had not gotten involved, the _Enterprise_ would have been crushed by the collapse of the temporal conduit. Which causes me to lean towards the belief that we were meant to help them, yes. In no version of our current reality would we have stood by and watched as a Federation ship was destroyed before us. Therefore, if we view this situation from _our _perspective on the time-line, I don't think it's a stretch to assume that we always assisted them."

"You mean in the past," Tom stated. "The past was always a result of our interference with the _Enterprise_ now_. _Our future is actually our past. Anything that we're _about_ to do has already happened and-"

She held up her palm. "Let me stop you right there, Mr. Paris… before you turn my headache into a full blown migraine. We can discuss the ins and outs of temporal mechanics later, but right now we have work to do. Everyone find out as much as you can... I am going to go contact the_ Enterprise_."

**…**

She opened the comm link from her Ready Room and hailed the ship; she didn't want the dropped jaws of everyone on her bridge to further the confusion that they must be experiencing aboard the _Enterprise_.

The image of Captain Kirk in bright gold fluttered onto her computer screen and she struggled to maintain composure, suddenly overcome with the same excitement that had washed over her senior staff just minutes before.

She swallowed and forced her face to remain steeled. "Hello, Captain Kirk. I am Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the Federation starship _Voyager-_-"

"Yes, right, let me stop you right there _Captain,_" Kirk said with an air of suspicion. "We have run manual scans through all of our databases and we have found no record of a Federation vessel by the name '_Voyager_.' You, apparently, seem to be aware of who we are, but we do not recognize your ship on our scans, we have lost all navigational sensors, and we know that you purposely tried to deceive us by generating a comm system malfunction."

Janeway was taken aback by the aggressiveness in his voice. They still weren't sure what exact year Kirk had emerged from, but he wasn't much older than thirty-five. She had over a hundred years of knowledge on him, more years of command experience, and much more enlightened ways of dealing with the unknown... yet she found herself shifting in her seat under his scrutiny.

Kirk pressed on. "As I'm sure your scans have shown, our warp core is slightly overheated and we've blown multiple dilithium conduits. But, rest assured, weapons are fully online."

_He's threatening me, _she thought, bewildered. _Captain Kirk just threatened me. Is he insane?_

"Captain, please, I know there is a lot of confusion and speculation in the air right now. Let me assure you, we have no hostile intentions. We picked up the signal of a Federation ship caught in a spacial anomaly, and when we arrived we saw you might need some help."

"Yes, well, can you please give us our coordinates?"

Janeway's throat tightened. She should have been more prepared for this conversation, although, from the sounds of it, if she had waited any longer the _Enterprise_ would have opened fire.

"Captain Kirk, trust me, I appreciate the position you are in. There are a lot of questions that need answering. If you would be willing to let me beam on board perhaps we could discuss them with greater depth." She wasn't sure which was safer, her beaming to the _Enterprise_ or Kirk beaming to _Voyager_. Either way, they needed to be face-to-face. Kirk looked off to the left of the screen, talking to someone. And then a furious-looking man in a short-sleeved blue shirt came up behind him and whispered something at him. Kirk's demeanor lightened slightly, and it was Janeway's turn to be suspicious.

"Captain Janeway, we would be honored to have you aboard. I will transmit our transporter specifications to you now. I'm looking forward to meeting you and your first officer... and getting measurements for my new Starfleet uniform," Kirk said with a feigned warm smile. "Kirk out."

The Starfleet emblem returned to her screen and she looked down at her uniform. _Crap._

She hadn't said anything about her first officer, but she remembered from Early Starfleet History at the Academy that there hadn't initially been any regulations regarding Away Missions. In Kirk's days, he led every mission, no matter how dangerous, with Spock at his side. While she admitted that it was an exciting notion, it baffled her how any captain could take that kind of risk. Repeatedly. If both Kirk and Spock had been killed down on the surface of some foreign planet, and then the ship had fallen under attack...

Janeway tried to keep her thoughts focused on Starfleet regulations and not on what was really on her mind: How nice it would have been to be consistently alone with her first officer.

In this case, though, she allowed herself to admit that she wanted nothing more than to have Chakotay by her side. And he would absolutely jump at the opportunity to meet the man behind the legends.

**…**

Chakotay waited eagerly for Kathryn to emerge from her bedroom. As soon as she had asked him to accompany her to the _Enterprise _to meet Captain Kirk, his mind had been on one thing and one thing alone: seeing her in that uniform. She _had _to wear it, obviously, because wearing a 24th century uniform would corrupt the timeline.

Obviously.

He was almost giddy. He had had a dream like this once, or twice. Well, a couple of times. Man, how he wished for those uniforms. Of course, she looked beautiful in every outfit… or with no outfit at all. He shook his head and pushed thatthought from his mind, standing up anxiously, too impatient to remain seated.

He heard the door to the bedroom swoosh open and held his breath. She stepped into the common area and looked at him mischievously, then gave a little spin to show off the uniform.

He frowned and shook his head disapprovingly. "That's not the uniform I replicated for you."

She was wearing everything properly: she had switched from red to gold, her rank insignia was on her cuffs, and the bun was back. But she was wearing the male version of it.

"Chakotay," she pleaded, as if he could order her to wear it, "I've never worn so little clothing in my _life. _Not even my bathtub sees so much skin."

_I've seen you in less, _he had the sudden urge to say. Of course, his goal was to get her into the uniform – an objective that held little meaning to him if she pulled out a phaser and shot him. The sight of those legs would do no good if he was dead.

"It's not that bad," he countered. That was a lie, but one he would fervently cling to until she slipped into those high black boots. "It was you who said we needed to blend in."

"I'm much too old to be wearing that," she joked, offering a small chuckle that Chakotay didn't buy for a second. Kathryn paused and glanced out the window, at the stars that were uncharacteristically motionless, certain she had hid the flash of insecurity that swept across her face. She was mistaken, of course; nothing she did was ever lost on him. She turned back to face him and smiled. "Maybe twenty years ago."

He gave his head a small shake and tilted his head at her; wondering for the umpteenth time how it was possible for her to look in the mirror and not understand the measure of the beauty that reflected back at her. "You're perfect," he said softly.

They were fast-approaching dangerous territory, especially after their encounter on the holodeck this morning, and Chakotay didn't want to push his luck. But she had to know; she had to know how flawless she was to him. How could she not? Unlike her, he never attempted to hide it. His affection was always there, shining brightly and unabashedly in his eyes.

She held his gaze until she couldn't – then she smirked. "Fine, you win." He grinned at her as she walked back into the bedroom and he settled onto the couch to wait.

When she finally re-emerged, pulling at the bottom of the skirt and blushing, the smile that spread across his face was completely involuntary – and reached full-dimple parameters as he took inventory of her, careful not to let his gaze linger too long. High black boots, black tights, a short, _short _golden dress with a swooping neckline; it hugged her at every curve. She was all woman.

He felt his heart rate quicken and he willed himself not to respond physically. "Kathryn…" he breathed. "Nice legs." It was suddenly completely apparent why Captain Kirk had such a reputation as a lady's man; men haven't evolved _that _much in the past three hundred years. Chakotay was suddenly thankful for the sexless jumpsuits they wore in the 24th century.

Any remnant traces of self-consciousness evaporated instantly from her features at the look of hunger in his eyes. She gave him a wicked smile. "You don't look too bad in gold, either."

"Yeah, well, you can look – but no touching," he replied with a wide grin.

"No promises, Commander. There's no telling how that 23rd century oxygen is going to affect us once we're aboard…" she laughed as they made their way to the transporter room.

He smiled internally; that was the kind of silly, lighthearted, angst-free flirtation that had once been commonplace between them, but had faded over the years. He wasn't sure why. Perhaps the longer they were stuck out here, the once high-soaring hope of return being continuously chiseled away by the unrelenting defeat this quadrant offered so well – well, perhaps it just became too painful to flirt after it became clear there was no end in sight.

He understood that, perhaps even appreciated it, but he missed the flirtations nevertheless.

Crew members craned their necks to catch sight of their captain in the get-up many of them had worn as children to costume parties, and he could see her turning a deeper shade of red with every look. The Delaney sisters passed and exchanged a knowing glance with one another – they had worn and used the effects of that short uniform as frequently as the opportunity to presented itself.

Chakotay took her hand when there was no one left around to see. "Relax, Kathryn. We're about to meet one of our heroes, and you look absolutely breathtaking."

Kathryn locked her fingers tightly around his and whispered, "Thank you." An ensign rounded the corner and Chakotay recovered swiftly by turning her palm up and placing a retro-communicator and retro-tricorder in it, his inconspicuousness causing a smile to play over her lips.

_See? _he thought as they continued their journey. _I'd never be caught off guard in public. _

But he knew in his heart that wasn't what was keeping them apart.

**…**

B'Elanna and Harry were waiting for them in the transporter room with updates.

"Here is a full analysis of the damage done to their ship. Nothing their own crew can't handle, Captain," B'Elanna said, disappointed. She offered Janeway the information on a bulky 23rd century PADD. Its weight and size surprised Janeway; there were tablets smaller than this dating back to the early 21st century. Why they were so bulky and awkward two-hundred years later baffled her.

"Thank you, B'Elanna. Harry, did you and Seven find any clues as to how to send them home?"

"Negative, Captain. But we've downloaded all of the information and detail that we can share with the _Enterprise_ without giving them any _new_ information. Maybe they'll have some ideas."

She doubted it, but Harry, as well as many of their generation, held Kirk up to the status of a demigod. If there was a way out, he'd find it. He didn't believe in the no-win scenario.

Janeway took one last look at Chakotay as they stepped onto the pad. _This is it, _she thought.

"Ready, Captain?" the ensign assigned to the transporter room asked.

Her words caught in her throat and she just nodded.

She was surrounded by blue lights and then she was gone – immediately blinking as the blue lights dissipated around her and the transporter room came into focus.

_Are these walls really purple?_ was her first thought. She had never seen so much color in one room before, anywhere, but especially not on a Starfleet vessel. Her gaze settled on the captain standing before her in full dress uniform; elongated golden shirt outlined with sparking gold trim, and a slew of bright Starfleet decorations where a comm-badge should have been. She half-expected to wake up at any moment.

"Welcome, Captain. It's an honor to have you aboard," Captain Kirk started with a smile. His demeanor from earlier had changed, but she thought she heard the slightest tint of sarcasm in his voice. "Let me introduce to you to my senior staff."

He motioned to a Vulcan man she recognized as a young Ambassador Spock. "This is my first officer and senior science officer, Commander Spock. This is Dr. Leonard McCoy, chief medical officer." Janeway recognized him as the furious-looking man on the bridge, but he seemed oddly familiar somehow. "And this is Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, chief engineer."

They were all in dress uniform, but Mr. Scott... he seemed to be wearing a plaid skirt.

"Thank you, Captain. It is a pleasure to meet you all. And let me introduce _my_ first officer, Commander Chakotay." They all exchanged handshakes and pleasantries in full Starfleet-diplomacy mode.

When she realized that both her and Chakotay were being much too silent, soaking up their moment to meet some of the pioneers that paved the road of space exploration, she decided to take charge. "Well, gentlemen, it was great to meet you all. Mr. Scott, I know you have been having trouble with the ship's sensors, so I brought along a detailed description of the damage sustained by the _Enterprise_ and a diagnostic report of the warp core from_ Voyager_'s scans," she handed him the PADD. "I hope it helps."

"Oh, how kind, thank ya lass," Mr. Scott said politely. He looked at Kirk who nodded dismissal.

Janeway motioned towards the door. The bright blue door. "Now, Captain, we have a lot to talk about."

"Yes, we do. Gentlemen, follow me," Kirk said, gesturing towards Spock and his chief medical officer. Janeway looked at Chakotay – they were hoping to only have to deal with Captain Kirk. The more people they let get involved, the higher the risk of contaminating the time-line.

"Actually, Captain, we have some information that you might want to keep private," Janeway started carefully.

In a flash all suspicion was back on Kirk's face. "I assure you, Captain, Commander, that anything you have to say can and will be shared with Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy. If we were to exclude them from the meeting, I would simply have to brief them on the contents of it later, and then it would be regurgitated knowledge. Whatever the... _problem_ here is, they deserve to know. These are two of the finest officers Starfleet has ever seen, and can ever hope to see again," Kirk said forcefully as Spock and McCoy exchanged a glance behind him.

Dr. McCoy nodded with agreement, the pride at having his captain jump to his defense read clear across his face. Janeway thought she saw a shimmer of emotion splash on the Vulcan's face, too. It lasted but a nanosecond.

"Very well, Captain," Janeway acquiesced with a diplomatic smile. If she didn't learn to play by his rules here quickly, she was going to get them thrown off the ship. She shuddered to think of the repercussions of the _Enterprise_ getting lost in the Delta Quadrant and never coming back. "Lets go."

Janeway and Chakotay absorbed every detail of the corridors that led them to the briefing room. It was like stepping into another world. She glanced at Chakotay and remembered the comment he made about wishing Starfleet had chosen happier colors when they had arrived on New Earth and were taking inventory of their new home._ "I was thinking more of a tasteful pin-stripe, something in blues and greens," _he had said. This was the ship for him. The walls, the ceilings, the consoles, the intercoms, even the crewmen were sparkling with vibrant colors. It was as if they were somehow compensating for coming out of a monochromatic existence, and chose to live life on the other extreme. Future replicas of this ship would never do it justice.

Even the conference room was blue. Blue floor, blue walls, blue door. She settled into a seat next to Chakotay and locked eyes with the three men sitting directly across from them. There was a triangular communications console on the middle of the table, and before each of them was an early form of a data console, some with a few stray yellow and red data chips spread before them. They were all waiting for her to begin and she dutifully complied.

"All right, there is really no easy way of saying this, so I won't attempt to sugar-coat the situation." She wondered if she should lead with the Delta Quadrant or the 24th century, and decided that the temporal displacement seemed like the more daunting information, so she began with their spacial displacement. "The conduit, the vortex, the wormhole – we're still not sure of exactly _what_ it was – has sent your ship," she took a breath, "to the Delta Quadrant."

Spock raised his eyebrows and McCoy furrowed his. Kirk remained skeptical. "What, may I ask, Captain, are _you_ doing here in the... _Delta _Quadrant?"

"We were brought here against our will by a life-form known as the Caretaker, almost seven years ago. We have been trying to find a way back to the Alpha Quadrant ever since."

"Excuse me, Captain. But that sounds like a bunch of poppycock to me," McCoy said leaning forward, eyebrows raised. Chakotay stifled chuckle and Janeway felt herself loosing control of the room.

"You didn't consider simply," Kirk opened his arms and shrugged, "_asking_ this Caretaker to return you to where you came from?" he asked glibly. Janeway bit her tongue and it was her turn to force on a diplomatic face, but Chakotay took the cue instead.

"It's a long story, Captain. But irrelevant as you were brought here by, as far as we can tell, a natural occurring phenomenon," Chakotay explained. "We have had our best people working hard to figure out how to send you and your ship back to where you belong." He handed the second PADD over to Captain Kirk, who handed it over to Spock without even glancing down at it.

"If we can figure out the pattern to the anomaly, if there even is a pattern, we can hopefully guesstimate the time and place of its next opening in the Delta Quad—"

"Let me just stop you right there, Captain Janeway." Every time Kirk used the word _captain_ it came with a bite. "I don't intend to let you just shoot us off through any conduit... vortex... wormhole, whatever your people decide it was, because you see fit. We're here... we're explorers... and I plan to explore."

Janeway was taken aback by Kirk once again. She glanced at Chakotay, who had a smirk on his face - obviously more than amused with the entire situation, and she softly kicked him with her foot. He dropped the smirk. She was going to have to not only find a way to get them home, but she was going to have to send them there _against their will_.

She cleared her throat. "I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. We're still over 30,000 light-years from the Federation."

"Oh, trust me, we've been in worse, much more... _grave_ situations. Let me guess what you're about to say – the odds are against us. The situation looks grim." Kirk threw up his hands. "That sounds like fun to me."

"Captain—"

"Are there any... _tribbles _in this quadrant?" Kirk interrupted. Dr. McCoy chuckled.

She had _definitely_ lost control of the room. "Not that... no, there aren't."

"Then I fail to see the problem."

Janeway was dumbfounded. She didn't know if she was irritated by the levity in his voice as he described the circumstance of being lost in the Delta Quadrant as just another adventure, just another chapter in his book, while she had spent countless nights laying awake trying to reconcile the guilt she felt about stranding her crew here... or if she was in awe of the way these officers looked at the unknown. She fancied herself an explorer and took every opportunity to make first contact or catalog new data, but here was Captain Kirk, suddenly flung tens of thousands of light-years away and exploration is the _only_ thing on his mind?

In her experience, the one thing_ all_ Starfleet officers shared was the curiosity and wonder that they, as children, had when they looked up at the sky. They all had sat, at some point, looking up at the stars – from whatever planet, moon, or space station they grew up on – and wondered what else was out there. Somewhere along the years, the magic of the stars and the mystery of space began to be replaced by the cold-hard facts of science. But the man sitting before her didn't seem to be touched by any of it. He was still the excited, wide-eyed boy he once was, looking up at the stars from his farm in Iowa.

There was also, of course, the possibility that he simply didn't believe a word she was saying.

"I'm afraid there's more," she went on, "in addition to the spacial displacement caused by the anomaly, you were right in assuming you had been sent forward in time." Spock hadn't yet said a word, busily reading through the contents of the reports, but this caught his attention and he looked up. Janeway continued very carefully, "The current year is 2377... What year did the _Enterprise_ come from?"

Kirk studied her face for a long minute before answering. "The year is... was... 2269," he said, his features softening.

Janeway suddenly wished she had led with this as she saw the wheels of thought turning in his mind; it explained a lot. It explained why there was no file on a_ Kathryn Janeway_ or a _U.S.S. Voyager._ It explained why their sensors didn't recognize the technology on the ship, and it explained the odd uniform she wore during their first communication. And it explained the chronometer on the _Enterprise_ that was _still_ spinning.

"Fascinating," Spock finally offered.

"You could say that," McCoy drawled and with a sigh added, "I hate time travel episodes." Janeway and Chakotay exchanged a perplexed look.

Kirk stood and looked her in the eye. "I apologize, Captain Janeway, for my initial skepticism about your story. I hope you understand, from my perspective, how things weren't exactly... adding up."

She nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long, but we were worried about how to approach you, without violating the Temporal Prime Directive."

"The Temporal... Prime... the what?"

**…**

They had spent nearly five hours discussing the ins and outs of what _Voyager_ was allowed to share about their situation, and Kirk had become a completely different person. He continued to question her, but no longer because of the threat that she might be a genetically altered Romulan. Dr. McCoy maintained his angry demeanor, but the more he spoke the more Kathryn had the sense that they had met before. It was certainly possible, but she searched her memory banks and came up empty-handed each time.

There was no official "Temporal Prime Directive" in Kirk's days, but he told them stories of three separate visits to 20th century Earth, and the lengths they had gone to go not to contaminate the population with the 23rd century, and she knew he understood their precautions. Most of what he said they had already known from history lessons, but he told them one story they had never heard before. From the time they were transported to Earth circa the 1930s, by the being called the "Guardian of Forever." He told them about a woman he described as kind, who he had to let die to preserve the integrity of the time-line. They could tell by the looks on both McCoy and the non-feeling Vulcan's faces that this had been at great personal cost to him.

He had loved her.

Words Spock had perhaps not even yet spoken echoed in her mind, _"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." _Tuvok had quoted that to her once. She found her mind drifting back yet again to Chakotay. Could she sacrifice him to save her ship? She had put her crew in danger before to bring him back, and he had done the same for her. But if she had sat there, with cold, hard evidence in her hands that his death was _necessary_ to save the future, even though she could have easily pulled him away from the danger, could she have done it?

Chakotay sensed the distress in her, and put his hand on hers underneath the table and pulled her back into the moment. She kept looking at Kirk, but she stroked his hand with her thumb.

"Gentlemen," she said, rising from her chair. Everyone else around the table stood up with her. "I think we have gone over every detail of every detail we have so far. It's time Chakotay and I get back to _Voyager_ and see if we can get any more answers. From now on, I'll keep a comm link open between us. Please feel free to call with any developments, and I'll do the same."

Dr. McCoy looked at the officers from the future. "Captain, Commander, we would be honored to have you and any other members of your crew join us for dinner. It's the least we can do."

Kirk flashed his irresistible smile. "Bones is right. A little food never distorted the space-time continuum, after all."

_Where is the sense of urgency? _Janeway thought, bewildered once again. If they didn't get everything sorted out quickly, the _Enterprise_ might end up trapped out here in the Delta Quadrant.

Regardless, dinner was absolutely, without a doubt, out of the question. Especially with other members of her crew – she didn't plan on letting them meet anyone else but herself and Chakotay. "Thank you, doctor, very much; you have been the epitome of hospitality. And I think it goes without saying, but it has been one of our greatest honors to meet you all here today. Chakotay and I have work to do, we must return to _Voyager_."

McCoy gave her a slight Southern bow, and Kirk motioned them out of the briefing room and back towards the transporter. When they got to the door, he leaned against the wall and studied her face for the second time today, but this time with a more mischievous look in his eye.

"You know, in my time, there were plenty of women in command. But none of them were a sight to look at," he said, letting his gaze alter slightly, momentarily, to the hem of her skirt. "If this is how Starfleet's doing things in the 24th century, I might not want to leave."

Under normal circumstances, she would have returned his sentiments with a cold Janeway glare – mildly offended by remnant traces of sexism – but there was something about Kirk and the intensity of his stare that made her blush slightly.

So it was Chakotay's turn to glare. It could have burnt a hole in Kirk's head, but, unfortunately, Kirk never looked over at him to see it.

The transporter doors opened and they were ushered inside.

"We'll be in contact shortly," Janeway assured, avoiding eye-contact with Chakotay.

"Beam them out, Scotty."

Blue lights swirled and once again they were gone.

**…**

A few more hours of hopeless research in Astrometrics and a bottle of wine in Chakotay's quarters later, Kathryn was sitting in the chair across from him. Chakotay was sprawled on the couch, boots off, and they were letting the events of the day fully sink in.

"You realize he was hitting on you, right?"

Kathryn suppressed a grin at the trace of jealousy in his voice. "Oh, no... that was just... how he was... you've heard the stories, Chakotay. Anything with breasts."

"He was hitting on _you_."

"Well... _you_ made me put on the slutty uniform," Kathryn teased.

He tried to look serious, but his dimples fought their way to the surface. She had changed back into 24th century garb the very second they arrived back on _Voyager_. "That's true. Would you mind putting it on for me again?"

"It's recycled, gone, never to be seen again." This was a lie; she had put it in a trunk at the bottom of her closet just in case it would ever come in handy.

"Shame. The opportunities to see those legs are just too few and far between, Kathryn," he said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes playfully and declined to comment. Instead, she brought the conversation to safer ground. "I can't shake the feeling that I've met Dr. McCoy before."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you had."

Kathryn paused, trying to search her memory banks once again for his face. She shook her head. "I don't know. I did meet Spock once, though, after one of his lectures at the Academy."

Chakotay looked over, suddenly curious. "Did you speak with him?"

"I did, actually. I was in the audience for many lectures... until he left for Romulus. The one time I got to speak with him, he was greeting each of the cadets. He wasn't really saying anything, just 'Nice to meet you,' 'Good luck,' that sort of thing. But when I shook his hand, he looked at me and told me I would make a great captain one day. I was too stunned to argue with him. At the time, I was studying to be a science officer. It was about two years before I switched to the Command school."

He rubbed his lips together, pondering Spock's almost unrealistic foreshadowing. "Perhaps he remembered meeting you... in 2269."

Kathryn raised her eyebrows, considering the possibility. What a notion. "Perhaps…"

She felt a small pang of guilt for sitting here comfortably with him while they should be finding some way to return the _Enterprise_. The fate of the entire universe as they knew it was more or less resting in their hands, here. _But what else is new? _she thought.

Chakotay, however, had demanded they keep their dinner date, and the truth was, she couldn't get Kirk's story about Edith Keeler and the Guardian of Forever out of her mind and she wanted nothing more than to be as close to Chakotay as possible. She knew that Kirk, ultimately, had died alone. Most days she was okay with this reality for herself – well, not _okay_ with it, but she accepted it. She chose this life, and given the opportunity for a do-over, she would again.

But Chakotay... Chakotay was devastated to leave their home on New Earth and return to space. He had recovered from it, but given the opportunity for a do-over, he probably would have destroyed the comm-badge upon arrival. He had been happy to be with her, and he was happy to serve her needs, from the moment they came out of stasis.

She had come around, too, of course. Leaving their beige home in the wilderness was the worst thing she had ever been forced to do. Sacrificing her life with Chakotay was the most painful thing she had ever done for Starfleet.

"What's on your mind?" Chakotay asked when she grew silent, propping himself up on an elbow. She looked at him and stood up. He started to get up with her, but she raised her palm and he stayed still.

Kathryn came over to the couch where he lay and tenderly sat beside him. She ran her fingers through the hair at the top of his forehead and looked at him sadly. He was so still she thought he might have stopped breathing, as if any slight movement would ruin the moment.

"I know it goes without saying, Chakotay. And I let it go without saying... but... sometimes people just need to hear it..." he was a statue. "I have never once, for a second, stopped loving you. I loved you before we were stranded, I loved you while we were stranded, and I loved you every single moment of every single day after we were 'rescued' from being stranded."

He wasn't blinking, and she set her palm on his heart to make sure he was still alive. "We can't have a relationship, and I know you know that. And I don't want to make things harder for you than they have to be but..." she sighed "...I _do_ love you. You need to know that."

He was catatonic. "Chakotay, breathe," she demanded. He complied. She got up and, for the first time since they had returned from New Earth several years ago, she tenderly laid down on his chest, her head resting on his heart. She could hear it beating. It felt like she was coming home after a long journey; and she was overwhelmingly homesick. She exhaled slowly and finally let herself be wrapped up in his warmth. He didn't say a word in response, just held her. They didn't need words. He stroked her hair, and she ran her fingers up and down his arm.

They stayed on his couch, without whispering a word but letting the silence speak volumes, for hours until he finally fell asleep. Then she arose carefully and gently covered him with a blanket.

And then she turned and went to her own quarters for the remainder of the night.


	5. Chapter 4: Gentlemen, Please

CHAPTER FOUR_  
>Gentlemen, Please<em>

Captain Kirk watched as Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay beamed back to their century. He had never met a woman quite like her. She spoke with such poise and poetry, he couldn't help but hang on to her every word... well, at least after he was sure she wasn't a Klingon spy.

He made his way back to the briefing room where Spock and Bones would be waiting for him. Bones' focus had been on the future captain the entire time, and he had smoothly invited her to dinner under the cloak of diplomatic relations. Leonard McCoy rarely went after a woman, but when he did, there was no one more sly, but gentle about it.

But Kirk didn't think he stood a chance after accusing her of "poppycock." Spock had been holding back in silence for almost the whole meeting, only speaking when spoken to, and if he knew his Vulcan friend as well as he thought he did, his silence was not an indication that he didn't have anything to say.

But when he walked through the doors, it was Bones who spoke up first.

"Jim, you always set your sights on the unattainable, don't you?" he chuckled.

"I don't know what you mean, doctor," Kirk responded innocently.

"You know _exactly_ what I mean, Captain. And as your physician, I demand you not let this go any further. There are only so many times a man can let his heart break." So he was trying to push him out of the way under the guise of concern. _Very coy, Bones_.

"Doctor, doctor, please," Kirk raised his hands in defeat. "You win! I'll step aside. You can have the lady-captain."

McCoy scoffed indignantly. "You know very well that's not what I'm after, Jim."

"Gentlemen, please," Spock interrupted, annoyed. "If either of you had been paying any attention to anything other than your own biological drives," he raised an eyebrow, "you would know that the Captain is already involved with her First Officer."


	6. Chapter 5: Minimal Battle Experience

CHAPTER FIVE_  
>Minimal Battle Experience<em>

_She was sitting at her desk, mulling over inconsequential details, looking busy and hiding out from him. But the door chirped and she jumped, spilling her coffee a little over a PADD. "Come in," she sighed. There was no hiding. He entered and stood at the door until it whooshed shut. Her heart pounded. He began to walk towards her like a predator, rounding on its prey. She gulped. He made his way over to her chair and she made a move to get up, but he pushed her back down. His lips were dangerously close. His breathing was erratic. She felt herself tremble. All of the sudden her hand was wet, and she looked down to find the source. A zebra was licking it. _Why is there a zebra on board my ship?, _she wondered. _I need to get to security and – _but the man grabbed her face and leaned in to-_

Kathryn jumped up in her bed. _Dammit!_, she screamed inside her head as she smacked her palm against her forehead.

"Computer, time."

"0400HRS."

Make it the tenth night in a row Kathryn had been awoken by inappropriate dreams. This time she figured it was for the better, as the _Enterprise_ was still in tow and as of last night, no one had any idea about how to get it back.

Her thoughts wandered from the _Enterprise_ to the man in the dreams. She didn't regret what she had told him the previous night, that she loved him, when she had said it. But now after sleep having reset her mind, she wasn't so sure. She had meant to be a comfort to him, so he would know his feelings weren't in vain. But they _were_ in vain; how she felt about him was irrelevant. They couldn't enter into a relationship while they were still en route to the Alpha Quadrant.

She knew that he wouldn't wake up expecting a relationship, but she had perhaps made it harder, if not impossible, for him to bury his feelings and move on to someone who _could _be in a relationship with him, someone who was allowed to love him back. And that was just cruel.

She grabbed her coffee, made a run through the shower, and left for Astrometrics.

* * *

><p>Seven and Harry were already there, or were still there, when she arrived.<p>

"Report," she demanded. From the circles under Ensign Kim's eyes, they were definitely _still_ there.

"We believe we have extrapolated the next appearance of the vortex down to the nearest parsec, Captain," Harry started. Janeway felt a wave of relief wash over her. She hadn't actually expected good news.

"That's great! Good work, you two. When will it appear?"

"In approximately 203 hours, Captain," Seven replied coolly.

"And if we know when it will appear next, I assume we have some data on _what_, exactly, it is?"

"Well... we have an idea," Harry pulled up a map of the conduit's telemetry on the giant screen. "We think that the conduit really is just a standard wormhole that leads back to the Alpha Quadrant, but, unfortunately, somewhere inside of it is a massive, _massive_ containment of chroniton particles." Harry, of course, meant unfortunately for_ Voyager_. The chroniton particles meant that_ Voyager_ couldn't use the conduit themselves to return to the Alpha Quadrant. "The _Enterprise_ entered the conduit, according to their navigation logs, _here,"_ he pointed to the beginning of the conduit. "And they would have simply come out on the other side, _here_, where we are, in their own time-frame, had this cloud of chroniton radiation not been there. It was like they were being pulled apart by two separate anomalies. It's a wonder their ship didn't sustain more damage."

"We approximate that the wormhole will stay open for 1.7 hours. We will need to be ready when it opens to send a probe inside, so we can know the exact moment to send the _Enterprise_ through. If our data is precise, we will be able to send them back to within minutes of their initial crossing." Seven was clearly satisfied that they had been able to make sense of the strange anomaly.

"But... there's a slight catch," Harry said. Of course there was a catch, nothing was ever easy on _Voyager_. "The wormhole seems to be traveling throughout all the quadrants at a rotating frequency. Its opening appears in the Delta Quadrant three times, at fairly short intervals, once every hundred years or so. We have scanned for traces of the particles in nearby space, and we think we found evidence of the wormhole's _first _appearance, in the current round of intervals. That means the _Enterprise_ came through on its _second_ interval. So, if we miss this shot, we won't be able to send them back for over _sixty years_."

Nothing like the added pressure to get the job done, but Janeway was satisfied. "Transfer your readings to the Bridge and," she smiled at them, "please get some sleep." Harry nodded gratefully and headed for the door. Seven stayed behind.

"Janeway to the Bridge."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Lay in a course for the coordinates we've just sent you, full impulse."

"Aye, Captain."

They had a little over a week to get to the wormhole, and, barring any difficulties, it should only take them five days to get there. That gave them three and a half extra days to make sure that both ships were prepared. It seemed like a solid cushion to her.

"Seven, you have done good work here tonight. But, please, go regenerate, don't make me make it an order," Janeway said with a hand on her hip.

Seven looked like she had something to say, but decided against it. "Aye, Captain," she said and turned sharply towards the door.

Janeway headed to her Ready Room to share the news with her Captain in-tow.

* * *

><p>"I request permission for Spock and I to come aboard, Captain," Kirk stated from the console in her office. The look on his face said it was a demand, not a request.<p>

"I'm sure you understand why that's impossible, Captain Kirk."

"I am not asking you to let my crew take shore leave on your vessel, Captain Janeway. Spock and I understand the position you are in. He's a Vulcan, after-all, he has his curiosity in check. And I already know everything I need to know about _my_ future," at this Janeway raised an eyebrow. "You can stick us with a security detail, take any precautions you deem necessary. I trust you, but you have to understand my... hesitation at leaving the _Enterprise_ and my entire crew in the hands of a ship we haven't even known for a full day."

"I understand Captain, but-"

"Think about if the tables were turned. And you were sent back _my_ time, and I told you that it was impossible for you to gather any information about my ship, because we were on a secret mission that would never make it into the history books. And we had the information about how to send you home, but we couldn't give you any specific data because we couldn't convert our readings to your 24th century technology. Would you really accept it, and go along with whatever I told you to do?"

Obviously, Janeway would not.

"Just Spock and myself, that's all I'm asking. Let him take a look at the scientific data in 'astrometrics' that is too big to transfer to our computer. When we are satisfied at your readings, we will return. Scout's honor," Kirk held up the three-fingered salute.

"All right, Captain. But just you and Spock, and we will present the information to you in our briefing room." There wasn't a single piece of technology in Astrometrics that wouldn't be new to them.

"Thank you," Kirk said with that same warm smile returning to his face. "Kirk out." And her screen went black.

* * *

><p>Kathryn was sitting, lost in a century's worth of thought, behind the desk in her Ready Room when the door chirped and she jumped. A little coffee spilled on her PADD. The sense of déjà vu was unnerving.<p>

"Come in," Kathryn called. She knew it was Chakotay before the door opened.

"Good morning, Captain," he said warmly. They were alone, and she knew by the tone behind the word "captain" he was trying to let her know that he knew nothing had changed between them. He rubbed his neck and rolled his shoulders, "I trust you slept well. I, however, was left to sleep on the couch all night."

She laughed. It never ceased to amaze her how easy things were with Chakotay, even when there was every reason that it should be awkward or tense. "I'm sorry, Chakotay. You just looked so peaceful, I couldn't wake you."

He sat in the chair in front of the desk. "I heard we've found a way to get the_ Enterprise_ home."

"Yes, we have. The wormhole will be re-appearing in a little over a week." Chakotay let the information sink in.

"That gives us a little time with them, then..." Chakotay didn't hide the excitement in his voice.

"The same rules will still apply, Commander. Minimal contact with the ship." She got up and sat in the chair next to him. "It is amazing, though, isn't it? To know that _we_ were a part of history? That somehow we are partially responsible for the way the 23rd century ended up panning out?"

"It's quite a notion. I don't know if I can fully grasp the weight of it."

She sighed. "Neither can I."

"Listen, Kathryn," he turned and looked at her intently. "About last night -"

The door chirped again._ Saved by the bell_.

"Come in," Janeway called. It was B'Elanna.

"Good morning, Captain, Commander."

"What can we do for you, B'Elanna?"

"Well, Captain, I was thinking. I know I originally said that the _Enterprise_ could handle their own repairs, as the damage they sustained was, _relatively_, minor, but if we only have a week until we reach the wormhole, they may not be able to complete repairs in time. And even if they did, their solution to fixing problems with the warp core was usually to slap some duct-tape on it and keep going. They're going to need to seriously re-fit the aft shielding and re-enforce the core if they're going to survive another trip like the first one."

Janeway had no idea what "duct tape" was. The longer B'Elanna had been with Tom, the more peppered with obscurities her speech became. And she wasn't the first crewmen to come to her with a reason to be let aboard the _Enterprise_. Tom wanted to go examine the helm to make sure that navigational controls would come back on-line when they had something to lock on to on the other side of the conduit. The Doctor was concerned that the _Enterprise_'s lack of medical advancement would prove an unnecessary risk to the crew should anything happen. Neelix was concerned that the crew hadn't had any _real_ food since the last time they left space-dock, and therefore wished to feed them non-replicated nourishment.

"I understand your concerns, and I understand your desire to see the ship first-hand," Janeway smiled. "But until we have evidence that the _Enterprise_ is absolutely in no position to figure it out themselves, we cannot step in. How much help could we be, anyway? Having to stick to 23rd century methods and tools?" B'Elanna absorbed her words diplomatically, but her disappointment was evident. It was then Janeway saw how badly she wanted to assist Mr. Scott.

"I think it would be a challenge, Captain. And I could do it without jeopardizing the time-line."

"I have no doubt you would be careful, B'Elanna." Then a whole other issue occurred to Janeway. "I also don't know how willing the crew of that ship would be to let a Klingon aboard to tamper with their warp core. Don't forget that from their perspective, all Klingons are sworn enemies of the Federation," she said gently.

B'Elanna looked at her feet. This had occurred to Chief Engineer. "They wouldn't recognize the Klingon in me, Captain."

"Excuse me?"

"We don't talk about it with outsiders," B'Elanna offered, echoing the explanation that Klingons had been giving for decades. "But the Klingons of Kirk's generation... they looked... well, they looked _different._"

* * *

><p>Janeway made sure the corridors leading from the transporter room to the briefing room were off limits while their friends were aboard. She already had a mountain of reservations about letting them onto <em>Voyager<em>, but she saw no choice. She needed Kirk's cooperation, or it would be _Voyager_'s existence at stake. There was no other captain of his time more decorated and revered than Kirk. He saved earth a dozen times. For all they knew, if he never returned to the Alpha Quadrant, the Federation would be overtaken by the Klingons. The Romulans. Who would have saved the Humpback whales and rescued the planet from the giant whale probe?

Their entire lives could be changed. There was no doubt that the Federation would be a very different place without his portrait in the hall of Starfleet Command.

She stood next to Chakotay as they waited to receive Spock and Kirk. He gently nudged her and she smiled without taking her eyes off the transporter pad.

Two swirls of blue lights appeared, and Captain and First Officer materialized before them. Spock stepped off the pad, but Kirk stood there, slowly taking in his surroundings like she had when they materialized on the Enterprise. He finally stepped off the pad and with a slap on Chakotay's shoulder said, "Well... this room is awfully bland."

* * *

><p>Janeway and Chakotay left Tuvok alone with the Captain and Spock to discuss the details of the phenomenon. Harry Kim had enthusiastically volunteered to act as science liaison, but Janeway had agreed to let Tuvok, and only Tuvok, make contact with the Captain of the <em>Enterprise<em>. As a Vulcan and as chief of security, it was a safe bet that he could be trusted. Plus, he was the only member of the crew who had already had the chance to meet both Kirk and Spock, albeit not in their prime.

"Captain to the Bridge," Janeway's comm-badge rang as they stepped onto the Turbolift. _Now what?_ She heard Chakotay receive the same summon, and she felt herself tense up.

"We're on our way." Chakotay and Kathryn exchanged a worried glance.

They stepped onto the Bridge and Harry greeted them. "Captain, we are reading an M-Class planet, straight ahead. They seem to have warp capabilities. A ship broke from orbit of the planet and is on an intercept course. They will intercept us in approximately three minutes."

"On screen," she said. The vessel didn't look like anything she had ever seen before. It was in the shape of an oval, completely rounded and smooth, like a river rock. "Hail them."

"They are responding, Captain."

And all of the sudden the image of a Kazon appeared on the screen. _A Kazon...?, _she thought incredulously. They left Kazon space years ago, and they had taken so many short-cuts along the way, it was impossible that they could have been followed.

"I am Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the Federation starship-"

"Prepare to surrender your vessel, _Janeway,_" the Kazon said with disgust.

"We're not here for a fight, we are simply trying to-" the Kazon cut off the transmission.

"Shields up! Arm phasers and photon torpedoes. How in the _world_ did the Kazons travel this far?" Janeway demanded an answer from Chakotay.

"They are obviously not on a Kazon vessel. It is possible they made an alliance with a species more advanced than any we've run into in this quadrant," Chakotay offered.

The alien ship opened fire and _Voyager_ shook at every blast. "Hail them again," Janeway said through clenched teeth, determined to settle this without causalities.

"They're ignoring our hails," Harry said.

"Evasive maneuver gamma-five."

The Turbolift doors opened and Tuvok, Kirk, and Spock stepped off. They shouldn't be on the Bridge, but it was the least of Janeway's concerns. They stumbled as the ship was hit again. "Fire at will," Janeway directed. "Target their weapons and propulsion."

"Shields at 84%," Tuvok said as he settled behind his console. Spock raised an eyebrow.

"Captain, we can't get any readings through their dampening field," Tom said.

"Phasers are having a minimal effect, Captain," Chakotay said, looking at his computer screen.

"Fire photon torpedoes," she said with her eyes locked on the screen. Tom complied.

"Direct hit. Their shields have dropped to 96%."

They weren't going to last the fight, but they couldn't turn around. They _had_ to cross this space get to that wormhole.

Captain Kirk, who had remained silent, suddenly reached into his pocket and flipped open his communicator, "Mr. Scott, cut all power to all nonessential systems. I'll be right there."

"Aye-aye, Captain," the Scotsman responded.

"What exactly do you think you're doing, Captain?" Janeway snapped.

"I'm going... to get us out of here. Beam me back to my ship and then immediately cut off the tractor beam."

"I can not and will not leave the _Enterprise_ out there to be a sitting duck." Janeway said forcefully as the ship shook violently at another blast from the alien vessel.

"Shields at 46%," Tuvok said.

"_Relax_, Captain," Kirk smiled confidently and placed a hand on Janeway's shoulder. "The Kobayashi Maru, assuming the test is still a practice of the Academy in your century, is my specialty. I have no intention of sacrificing my ship, or yours. These aliens are focusing on _Voyager_, and from their point of view my ship looks helpless and damaged, a drain on your shields. They will expect you to release the _Enterprise_ to strengthen shields, and they will pay no attention to us once we are detached." .

"That's an awfully big gamble," Janeway said shaking her head. Another blast and a few red hairs fell out of place.

"Shields at 39%." Tuvok updated.

"One we're going to have to take," Kirk said, resolve in his voice. "Beam me to my Bridge, Captain."

Janeway took a breath. Not seeing a better alternative, she nodded hesitantly.

Spock spoke up, "I am returning with you, Captain."

She noted the look of friendship that ran across Kirk's face as he turned to Spock. "Mr. Spock, how many times must we go over this?" he squeezed Spock's arm and she was surprised that the Vulcan did not tense up at the contact. "Either one of us, by himself, is expendable. Both of us are not. Stay here on _Voyager_, and if you see an opportunity for tactical advantage, tell these people. They _clearly _have minimal battle experience." Spock nodded stoically and Janeway glared.

"Tom, as soon as we drop the shields to beam Kirk off board, let go of the tractor beam. Hopefully that will distract them for the few seconds it'll take to get the shields back on-line." Tom nodded. "Janeway to transporter room, beam Captain Kirk directly onto the Bridge of the _Enterprise_."

"Aye, Captain."

"Good luck," she said softly as a confident Kirk became a swirl of blue lights._ Voyager_ shook again from another blast.


	7. Chapter 6: Calm Down, I Have a Plan

CHAPTER SIX_  
>Calm Down, I Have a Plan<em>

Kirk re-materialized on his own Bridge, the lights minimal, and took a seat in his chair. The _Enterprise_ was drifting in space, and on the screen they could see _Voyager_ futily tempting to return fire on the futuristic ship. His crew was silent and he could hear Uhura breathing behind him. They had no idea what his plan was.

"Who are they, Captain?" Sulu asked.

"No idea, Mr. Sulu. But it seems our friends have made a few enemies here in the Delta Quadrant. Maintain scans on _Voyager_. I want to stay adrift for as long as possible, until we are right under the belly that ship – but if their shields begin to fail before that, we'll have to step in."

The enemy ship continued to fire without refrain, and he felt a sharp stab of worry for Spock on the other ship. As Kirk predicted, the enemy ship didn't fire at the _Enterprise_. They didn't even scan them for life signs, they had a grudge against Janeway and that blind hatred would be their undoing. The enemy ship looked like a ball of glass floating in space. There were no windows, no ridges, no openings of any kind. There was no indication of where to target fire, and Voyager was taking aim sporadically at all areas of the ship.

The doctor came through the Turbolift but remained uncharacteristically silent. They were getting close enough to the vessel to see the fumes of radiation coming off its shielding. Their ship lightly shook every time Voyager fired a torpedo at it.

"Mr. Sulu," Kirk said calmly, quietly, as if the vessel might hear him, "on my mark... jettison the escape pods. Put them on auto-pilot... on a collision course with the ship."

"Jim, what exactly is the plan here?" McCoy had found his voice, but it came out in a shaky whisper.

"Quiet, Bones. Calm down, I have a plan, that's all you need worry about." There was an air of danger in Kirk's voice that rarely surfaced, but McCoy recognized it and it quieted the doctor. He gripped onto the red railing around the command station, and planted his feet on the ground.

The Enterprise began to pass under the ship.

"When the ship starts to open fire on the pods, scan for the source of the torpedoes, Mr. Chekov." The Bridge was silent enough to hear crickets chirping. If there were crickets in space. "_Now, Sulu_!"

The escape pods released and headed straight for the ship. The enemy vessel momentarily forgot about _Voyager_, and they shot down the pods. Sure enough, the _Enterprise_ was close enough see and to get a lock on the small opening where the torpedoes were being released.

"Target the source of the torpedoes, Mr. Chekov. Fire at will! Everything's she's got!"

A flurry of light attacked the small opening, and the shields of the enemy ship flickered.

"Bridge to Mr. Scott, boot us back up! We're going to need to get out of here, fast!"

"Aye-aye, Captain! Starting up the core!"

"Captain, zhee wessel is loosing propulsion. Shields down, veapons are off-line."

Kirk got up and stared down the ship on the screen. Explosions started breaking holes in the glass. "Get us out of here, Mr. Scott!"

"Just one more minute, Captain! We can't risk a full cold-start of the warp drive!"

"Get... us... out... of-" a swirl of blue lights surrounded Kirk mid-sentence and he was gone.

"Get him back!" McCoy yelled frantically. "Where the hell did he go!"

"I am picking up his life-sign on the planet's surface-" a jolt hit the ship as_ Voyager_ locked onto the _Enterprise_ with a tractor and jumped to warp.

The enemy ship exploded into pieces behind them.

"Daft fools! Let us go!" McCoy yelled at the ceiling as if_ Voyager_ could hear. "Hail them, Uhura!"

She tried to hail them with no avail, "Their communications system was damaged by the battle, sir. I'm not picking up their signal at all."

Kirk was gone, Spock was gone, and command fell to Scotty. "Dammit!" McCoy slammed his fist on the intercom, "Mr. Scott! They took the captain before the ship exploded. _Voyager_ is pulling us away at warp speed. We need to disrupt the tractor beam somehow and go back to the planet. Get up here!"

"On my way, Dr. McCoy."

The _Enterprise_ felt the vibration as Engineering sent a warp pulse up the tractor beam to shake_ Voyager_ off. They didn't get the hint. Another pulse, and the tractor beam dissipated. The Turbolift doors opened to Scotty, who positioned himself in the Captain's chair like he always belonged in Command.

"Mr. Sulu, set in a course back to the planet. Full impulse, straight ahead. We still don't have the warp core back."

Uhura's breath caught in her throat, and Scotty turned around. "It's all right, lass. They could beam Kirk directly into an active volcano, and he would find a way to survive. I promise." Uhura nodded gratefully, and then she straightened and grabbed her earpiece.

"_Voyager _is hailing us, Mr. Scott!"

"On screen, Lieutenant."


	8. Chapter 7: It is Logical

CHAPTER SEVEN_  
>It is Logical<em>

"The ship has set itself to self-destruct," Tuvok said, breaking the silence. "The four Kazons have beamed to the surface of the planet. There is one minute and six seconds until the ship will explode."

The crew had watched, hearts stopped, as the _Enterprise_ slipped unnoticed under the Kazon-controlled ship. _Voyager_ had finally been able to get readings on the vessel, and there were only _four_ crewmen on board, all Kazon. _Voyager_ had been able to diminish the ship's shields enough for the _Enterprise_ to penetrate them at its weakest point, but the damage they had done to _Voyager_ was, by far, worse. There were no causalities, but the Doctor was being flooded with injuries and the ship's blasts had broken through their outer-hull. If the stakes of getting Kirk and his crew back to their own time-frame were not so dire, Captain Janeway would have retreated. But, together, they had been able to defeat the ship. Spock had remained silent and stiff the entire time, and Janeway couldn't help but notice. The Spock, Ambassador Spock, the elder version of the science officer that this crew knew, didn't stand by watch anything silently. Time, and death, had yet to change him.

"What's the status on the _Enterprise_?" Janeway asked. The ship began breaking apart before them, and the _Enterprise_ was still sitting under it, motionless.

Chakotay looked at his screen. "They are still trying to bring their warp core online. They're dead in the water, Captain."

"Forty-seven seconds," Tuvok updated.

"Janeway to Engineering. Are we able to jump to warp?"

_"Yes, Captain."_

"B'Elanna, I need everything we can spare focused on the tractor beam."

_"Understood."_

"Tom, the second we lock onto the ship, get us out of here as fast as we can without compromising the beam," Janeway demanded and he complied. They grabbed onto the historic ship and jumped to warp, the blasts from the remaining systems on the enemy ship hitting them like ripples in the water. They beat the explosion with just enough time, the discharges barely searing the aft shielding.

Another ripple hit _Voyager_, a big ripple, and Janeway stumbled. "Report," she said walking over to the helm. "Was that another explosion?"

It was Chakotay, again, who responded. "No, it was the _Enterprise_," he said, his voice marked with confusion. "They're sending a warp pulse up the tractor beam."

"What? Why?" She leaned over and examined the console next to Tom. "Hail them, Harry."

"Communications took heavy damage. Attempting to bring back on-line," Harry replied.

She turned to Spock. "What are they doing?" she sternly demanded from him, but Spock coolly raised an eyebrow. The intimidation she was able to command over the rest of the crew had no hold over him.

"Captain, I have been here, with you, for the entirety of the conflict. I have been restricted from use of your ship's scanners, and I have seen and heard only what your crew has reported aloud. It is therefore illogical to assume that simply because I know these people, I should have blind insight into their every course of action."

Another ripple hit the ship. "It's the _Enterprise_ again," Chakotay reported. "They've broken the hold from the beam and they're," he looked up and locked eyes with Janeway, "reversing course back to the planet."

"Drop out of warp, Lieutenant. Go after them." Janeway crossed her arms and took in the sight on the view screen. The _Enterprise_, still without warp drive, was headed back to the site of the explosion at full impulse, as fast as their ship could go.

"I can offer you only this, Captain," Spock said, taking a few steps closer to her. "If Captain Kirk is trying to get back to the planet, he does have a reason for doing so."

"Communications back on-line, hailing the _Enterprise_," Harry narrated.

"On screen, Ensign."

The view screen flickered in and out for a few seconds, and when the image came into focus before them, Tuvok raised an eyebrow and everyone else on the Bridge stiffened. Including Spock.

Janeway swallowed the lump in her throat. "Mr. Scott, _where_ is Captain Kirk?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"The enemy vessel beamed him onto the surface of the planet just before they exploded. I'm sorry if the warp pulse did any more damage to your ship, Captain, but we weren't getting a signal from you and we needed to get your attention. Our warp core is still off-line, our engineers are busy trying to adjust the anti-matter reactors so we can get it back without risking a cold-start implosion. Can you lock onto us with another beam and bring us back at warp speed?"

Janeway let it all sink in. The Kazons had somehow decided to lock onto _Kirk_ and beam him, and only him, to the surface of the planet. A million thoughts ran through her mind. Why couldn't they have picked a red shirt? Was he a prisoner, a hostage? Did they beam him to a detention center, or out into the middle of the desert? How did they know he was of any importance to_ Voyager_? Or did they just pick someone from the Bridge? And of course, in the midst of a million unanswerable questions, was the pang of guilt threatening to overtake her composure.

"What do plan on doing, Mr. Scott?" Janeway asked, arms once again folded. "Demanding they release him? I hate to remind you that our ship, on the very cutting edge of 24th century Federation technology, was no match for that ship. The only reason the _Enterprise_ escaped unharmed was because they didn't look twice at your ship until it was too late, and if they had, we wouldn't be having this discussion now." Mr. Scott was loosing his polite disposition, and a steaming McCoy in the background looked like he was going to jump through the screen and strangle her. Janeway sighed. Obviously she wasn't going to leave Kirk there, but they needed a better plan. An actual plan. "Lets all take a breath and meet to discuss our options. We can-"

"But, Captain," Scotty interrupted. "By the time we-"

"Lieutenant Commander Scott," it was Spock who stepped up to the screen and interrupted him. "I do not need to remind you that in the absence of the Captain, it is I who am in command of the _Enterprise_. We _will_ retreat until we are able to discuss our options."

"Aye, sir." Mr. Scott said, defeated.

"If we keep the ships behind the moon of the nearest planet, we should be hidden from their sensors but with a probe we might be able to get readings from the planet's surface," Ensign Kim offered. Janeway nodded.

"Lock onto the _Enterprise_ with another beam, but don't jump to warp. We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves. Lay in a course for that moon." Tom nodded, and on the screen Scotty directed Uhura to end the link.

* * *

><p>"Are you ready, Captain?" Chakotay asked, popping his head through the door of her Ready Room. "No one's getting any younger, you know."<p>

All of the senior officers from both ships, except for The Doctor who was still treating injuries in sick bay, were assembled and waiting for them in the Briefing Room on _Voyager_. She would have preferred to meet on the _Enterprise_ to limit their contact with a century's worth of advancement, but _Voyager_'s sensors were more accurate and the game had slightly changed. They still had over a week to get to the conduit's next opening, but they had no idea who took Kirk and why, or what they were going to have to do about it.

"Coming, coming," she said, putting down a PADD and heading for the door. But Chakotay walked all the way in and the doors shut behind him.

"Kathryn, this isn't your fault," he said abruptly. She stopped in her tracks and looked into his eyes, his gaze penetrating her soul. _How does he do that?_ "I know you're letting yourself think it is. You're thinking that you shouldn't have pulled them out of the conduit, even though there was no way they would have been able to reverse course back through it. You're blaming yourself for jumping to warp before the _Enterprise_ could beam Kirk back, even though there was no way to know they took Kirk, and still even if we had stayed behind even a few seconds more, both ships would have been consumed by the explosion. You're thinking that the _Enterprise_ was an innocent bystander in a fight with a species that _you_ made an enemy of, even though it was the Kazon that declared war on us, and all _we_ did to provoke them was refuse to violate our principles." He moved closer to her. "This isn't your fault."

"Chakotay..." She hadn't even really had time to stop and examine all the ways she felt guilty, she had been too busy trying to devise a plan to retrieve Kirk. But he had already examined it and moved to counteract it, and she loved him for that. _I love him_. "Chakotay, I-" he shook his head and put a finger on her lips, and she quieted. He moved even closer to her and put his hands on her arms, and left them there for a moment to gauge her reaction. When she didn't move away, he pulled her into him, his hand holding her head on his chest.

"You're not alone," Chakotay whispered and she smiled against his chest. He _did_ have blind insight into her course of action. She couldn't explain what had happened or why all of the sudden all the walls of protocol that were keeping them apart seemed less important. Maybe the cowboy-attitude of Kirk's crew was getting to her. When Kathryn mentioned the Temporal Prime Directive to Dr. McCoy when they had been deciding which ship to meet on, he had replied, _To hell with the damned Temporal Prime Directive!_ Spock had remained emotionless and simply looked over at McCoy, but his Vulcan silence loudly echoed his agreement.

That certainly wasn't about to become Janeway's attitude about Starfleet standards. But the warmth of Chakotay's embrace just strengthened her, revived her spirit. And maybe it wasn't such a bad thing for a Captain to have.

She broke away from him and looked into his eyes, "Are you ready, Chakotay? No one's getting any younger, you know."

Janeway and Chakotay finally made their way to the Briefing Room, which looked like something straight out of a holonovel. Kirk's crew was outnumbered eight to three, with only The Doctor and, of course, Kirk missing. Janeway couldn't help but marvel at how many more voices she had to listen to than Kirk did – and she was grateful for it.

The crew made the contrast between centuries evident; Janeway's crew on one side of the table, and Kirk's on the other. To _Voyager_'s officers, the early Starfleet uniforms looked like something they would wear to bed, or, of course, as a costume to a party. And to the _Enterprise_'s crew, _Voyager_'s uniforms just looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Everyone had been sitting in silence, unsure of what to do or say before the Captain and First Officer arrived. Janeway and Chakotay had walked in on an air of awkward stares. Everyone trying to get a reading on one another.

B'Elanna was staring at Scotty, mulling over all the contexts in which she remembered his name coming up at the Academy. Scotty was staring at Seven, mulling over all the contexts in which a dinner invitation would be appropriate. Seven was staring at her PADD. Neelix was shifting his gaze back and forth between the Vulcans, who seemed to be staring at each other, sharing some kind of Vulcan connection through the intensity of their locked gazes. McCoy's eyes were fixed on Neelix, and he looked only moments away from grabbing a medical tricorder and scanning the Talaxian. Harry and Tom were staring at each other, for no reason at all.

"I'm sorry for the delay," Janeway started, carefully breaking the trance they were all in, as she and Chakotay took their seats. "I'm sure introductions were already made in our absence, now lets get to work. Mr. Scott, what is the status on _Enterprise_?"

"We have taken care of the damage to the aft shielding, and are still trying to adjust the anti-matter reactors and re-enforce the core," Scotty replied. "The repairs should take about a week... but I'll have it ready by this time tomorrow."

"Captain, with the work Mr. Scott's team has already done to the core, we can fix the rest of the damage to the _Enterprise_'s reactors without even leaving _Voyager_, it should only take about an hour or so," B'Elanna said, offering a PADD to Scotty. "But _Voyager_ is going to need some serious work. We suffered multiple breaches to the hull, decks six through nine are without power, and almost _all_ internal systems sustained some damage from the Kazon ship's torpedoes."

"Thank you, lass. I appreciate the assistance. With your approval, Captain, I could send a team of engineers to assist Lt. Torres with the repairs to your ship," Scotty offered. "We might not be much help figuring out your technology, but we can point a laser where ya tell us to." Janeway let the offer sink in.

"Any help would be great, Captain. We have a lot of ground to cover," B'Elanna said. She wanted to work with Mr. Scott, but her double-motives aside, it was imperative they have _Voyager_ up and running as quickly as possible.

"All right. I will allow you to beam aboard a _small_ group of your senior engineering staff. B'Elanna, you'll be responsible for them. Keep them focused on minor malfunctions while you and your team take care of the bio-neural reboots and worry about the core. Understood?" They both nodded. "Seven, what can you tell us about the planet's shielding?"

"The shielded area of the planet is relatively small but is comprised of the same advanced technology used on the enemy ship. There is a dampening field over all of the planet which makes it difficult to get any readings at all. The only information our probe has been able to gather has come at sporadic intervals when their shields momentarily go down as they release a shuttle craft. Since we have arrived at this moon, they have deployed six crafts from their northernmost continent, all headed in the same direction," Seven informed them. To ease some tension she added, "In the opposite direction from our position."

"What has the probe been able to tell us about the surface of the planet?" Janeway asked.

"Well, not much," Harry responded. "There seems to be one main metropolis, where the shuttles are being launched. According to the _Enterprise_'s scan for Kirk's life-sign, his initial location was somewhere just outside of the city. From what we can tell, there are a series of tunnels connecting the main metropolis with many smaller infrastructures... but there are few to no life-signs in many of them. My best guess is that this planet is used for weapons and ship testing, possibly even a prison. It would account for their intense security measures, and the shuttles headed in one direction. They might be traveling back home."

"We have come to the same hypothesis, Captain," Spock agreed, his hands intertwined in front of him. "The only way to get onto the surface of the planet is to take a shuttle and to beam down as a shuttle craft is launched from the city and the shields go down. Either one of our ships would be too easily detected by the planet's sensors."

"Agreed," Tom said. "I could take the _Delta Flyer_; it would have the best chance at surviving an attack should the planet detect us. I could beam down and send it back on auto-pilot."

"I will be the one beaming down to the surface," Spock stated firmly.

"Now wait just one damn minute, Spock," McCoy said. "What makes you think I'm going to let you beam down there into god-knows-what and let yourself get thrown into prison with Jim? What good will that do anybody?"

Spock raised an eyebrow and swiveled his chair around to meet McCoy's stare. "I was unaware I needed your approval, Doctor."

"Gentlemen," Janeway said curtly, standing up from her chair with a show of authority. "No one from either crew is beaming down onto the surface of the planet until we are _positive_ that we have exhausted all diplomatic channels first."

Spock cocked his head to the side, fingers still laced together, and took in the situation. "With all due respect, Captain, I have weighed all of the options logically and I have made the decision. I am taking a shuttle to the planet, but it is unnecessary for you to put any member of your crew at additional risk. I will be going alone."

"I forbid you from stepping foot onto that planet until we have exhausted all diplomatic channels," Janeway repeated. She was in shock at his attitude, it was one thing for Kirk to be reckless and treat space like the wild, wild west – but Spock was a Vulcan, acting rash and... _human._

"Using your own logic, Captain, I am already guaranteed success. Just as you have stated that you would never stand by and watch a Federation ship be destroyed, so therefore your involvement with us was always one part of a time-loop scenario, so must I reason here. _I_ would never stand by and leave Captain Kirk a prisoner on an enemy planet, so therefore my involvement in his rescue must also be part of the same loop."

"That's a lot of what-ifs, Spock."

"I will be taking with me a pylic ion discharger, so even in the event that I am unsuccessful, the next rescue team would have a clear path to follow. Logically, if I were to be captured, they would hold me in the same center that they are holding Captain Kirk prisoner."

"The plyic ions would act like a trail of breadcrumbs..." Chakotay said. "And they would only be detected if the Kazons, or whoever else is down there, were scanning for pylic ions specifically."

"I'm sorry," Janeway said, turning back to Spock. "I just can't allow you to take that level of risk with the small amount of data we've collected."

It was Spock's turn to stand up and meet her gaze. "I apologize, Captain, but I must remind you that you, like Dr. McCoy, are not my commanding officer. From my temporal perspective, you are years from having been born. And from your temporal perspective, I outrank you."

"How do you know that?" Janeway asked, taken aback. He did outrank her; in the 24th century he was Starfleet's most revered Ambassador. McCoy and Scotty exchanged a perplexed look.

Spock let his hands part and with a stoic shrug responded, "It is logical."

* * *

><p>"It is illogical," Tuvok stated calmly.<p>

The Captain had sent him to reason with his fellow Vulcan. _Half-_Vulcan, as Tuvok had reminded her. As a young man, his modern history professors had taught him to revere Spock and his father Sarek, Vulcan Ambassador to Earth, along with many great Vulcan minds, but as they studied the actions of Spock's Starfleet records, it was always with a grain of salt. Little bits of human emotion poking through years of Vulcan discipline. He was certain he would not be able to change Spock's mind now, but he had to try. And while this version of Spock had yet to publicly say his most-quoted words of wisdom, Tuvok figured he'd use the Vulcan's own utilitarian logic against him now.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," Tuvok said.

"...Or the one," Spock said, looking up. He had echoed the same phrase countless times to his own captain, but something told Spock that somehow Tuvok already knew that. "Sometimes, however, the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. It is not logical, but it is often true. You are concerned that I will not succeed."

"The probability of you being able to beam onto the planet at the exact time the shuttle bay opens, then being able to avoid the guards we have detected posted outside the exterior of the main infrastructure, then being-"

"The probability of success is 84923 to 1. If this were a game of poker, I would 'fold.' But Captain Kirk has gone against worse odds to retrieve me, and I owe the same loyalty to him. I am not about to endanger either your crew, or _Enterprise_. The risk is mine alone. I have studied all of the data on the geography of the planet, and I believe I will be successful. And if I am not, then with the pylic radiation, the next attempt at rescue will have a probability of success of 534 to 1. It is a 'win-win scenario,' as Dr. McCoy would say."

"You are acting under the false assumption that Captain Kirk's life is the only one of enormous value to the future. If you were to be killed, the impact it would have on the time-line is unforeseeable."

"I am under the assumption that Captain Kirk's life is of enormous value to_ me_." Tuvok raised an eyebrow at this open show of sentiment. "As my captain, I am sworn by Starfleet to protect him, even if the cost is my own life. But Captain Kirk is more than just my captain, he is my friend."

"Then your decision is based on emotion."

"I see no reason to stay here and be insulted, Commander Tuvok," Spock said, rising to his feet and meeting the Vulcan's emotionless stare. "Are you familiar with the ancient Earth concept of 'destiny,' Tuvok?" The other Vulcan nodded. "They believed that everything that had happened, or was to happen, was already decided by some omniscient being in the clouds who would not adhere to reason. You are requesting me to subscribe to the same notion. You are asking me, and my crew, to refrain from our natural course of action, lest we disrupt the path that has already been pre-destined for us to follow."

"The flaw in your analogy is in the fact that we do not claim to be omniscient beings with a secret hold over your destiny. We are from a point further along in the time-line, and therefore we, simply by default, know the details of your lives. And by the nature of your own career choices and diplomatic endeavors, you have placed yourselves in a position of high influence. It is illogical to assume that _Voyager_ will simply stand by and watch the actions of a group of temporally displaced officers alter the entire status of the universe as we have grown accustomed."

Spock sat back in his chair and looked up at Tuvok, his expression unreadable. "Then it would seem that I must not fail."

* * *

><p>Kathryn was pacing back and forth as Chakotay sat calmly in front of her desk in her Ready Room.<p>

"I'm going with him," she said, stopping abruptly. Chakotay just shot her a look that said _lets not have this fight._

Before she had a chance to start the fight, the doors beeped and Tuvok entered. Kathryn sat down. "Well?" she asked.

"It seems his resolve is not to be reasoned with. He is most irritatingly... human," Tuvok said. Janeway could almost hear the disdain in her security chief's voice.

"No one's perfect, Tuvok," Chakotay offered. Tuvok nodded slowly, somberly and exited.

"Captain, I am leading the rescue mission," Chakotay said forcefully.

"I'm going, Chakotay. There is no denying that I did get us into this mess, and I should be the one to get us out."

Chakotay opened his mouth to speak but the door chimed again.

"Come in," she said. It was Dr. McCoy, and Janeway held back her disappointment. The only person she really wanted to fight with right now was Chakotay.

"Excuse the interruption, Captain," McCoy began.

"You're not interrupting, Doctor. My door is always open to you and any of your crew," Janeway said diplomatically and braced herself for whatever rant he was about to unleash.

"First of all, you're not going to change Spock's mind about his mission to save the Captain," he said sitting down. "But I don't think we should allow him to go down there alone. I tried to get that through the rock-hard, pointy-eared, stubborn Vulcan head of his but he won't listen to me."

Janeway raised her palm to him and smiled. "I couldn't agree more, Doctor. I will be accompanying Spock to the planet." McCoy raised his eyebrows and Chakotay lowered his. She could tell her First Officer wanted to say something, but wasn't about to undermine her authority in front of Dr. McCoy... who already had no respect for her authority.

"I see." McCoy silently rubbed his lips together in thought. "Commander, do you mind if I have a moment alone with the Captain?" he finally asked. A baffled Chakotay obeyed and exited the room, shooting Janeway a glance that said _this-isn't-over_.

"What is it I can do for you, Dr. McCoy?"

"I'm going to give you some advice I gave Jim once... Are you okay with speeches?" She had just narrowly escaped one from Chakotay.

"Trust me," Janeway said slightly throwing her hands in the air. "I can't get enough of them."

"Well, all right then." McCoy adjusted himself in the seat in front of her and leaned forward a little. He crossed his hands in front of him. "You've had a century to correct my data on this one, but the truth behind it will be the same in the next century, and the one after that." He seemed like a different man here now, sitting before her. He wasn't furious... he seemed gentle, in an almost paternal way. "In our galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million earth-type planets. And in the universe, three million _million_ galaxies like ours. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named Janeway." She squirmed a little at the weight of his sentiment. "Now I know why Spock has decided to take it upon himself to go in blindfolded on this outrageous mission. He would do _anything_ for that man down there. For all his green-blooded, ridiculous, logical nonsense there is one way his human side is constantly reasserting itself, and that's his love for Jim."

"I have heard Spock give many lectures at the Academy, occasionally about Captain Kirk. He always spoke of him in a way that I thought was loving, for a Vulcan. He spoke about you that way too," she smiled.

At that it was McCoy's turn to throw his hands in the air. "Don't you go tellin' me that the Vulcan and I become friends, Captain!" Janeway laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Angels and ministers of mercy. _That's_ why no one should know too much about their own future... poppycock..." he trailed off. "Anyway, my point is Spock is motivated out of love, which an okay reason to risk your life, in my book. But you are obviously motivated by something else."

He didn't really end on a question, but nevertheless sat patiently and waited for Janeway to answer. She was struggling with a response that would satisfy him, but wouldn't give out too much information. Or, worse, make her look weak. He had sprung from the demeanor of a security detail to one of a ship's counselor, and she was taken by surprise. The expression on her face gave him all he needed anyway, and he stood up.

"Send your First Officer, Captain. Whatever twisted logic you're using to justify the risk, it's not worth it. We need you here."

And with that, McCoy turned and walked out. As casually as if they had been old friends, and he was stopping by to check up on the family. She watched him leave, bewildered. As soon as he was out the door, Chakotay reappeared.

"Kathryn, you're not beaming down to that planet."

"I know. You are."

Whatever Chakotay's next prepared sentence was caught in his throat. "Excuse me?"

"You're right. It's too great a risk. Besides, in this circumstance, your experience with the Maqui makes you the more qualified rescue team."

Chakotay looked at her as confused as she had looked at McCoy, and then he looked at the door. "Did he give you some kind of hypo-spray? Are you drugged?" She laughed and walked over to him. They locked eyes and this time it was Kathryn who moved to embrace him in a hug.

"Be careful," she whispered against his uniform. "You know, love is a worthwhile motivation for personal sacrifice, I've been told," she said looking up at him. "So please don't make me become a martyr to bring you back."

He tightened his hold on her. "I'll do my best."

* * *

><p>Kathryn lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. This would have been the eleventh night in a row she had been awoken by an inappropriate Chakotay-dream. Fortunately, however, she had avoided the issue by avoiding sleep all together. Instead, she tossed and turned in her bed, occasionally asking the computer for the time and counting down the hours till the rescue mission, which she still didn't agree with, would begin.<p>

She couldn't remember a time when she felt less in control.

She had lost control of Chakotay, but that was only as a direct result of her loss of control over her own emotions. _Talk about mixed signals_, she thought to herself. That poor man.

She had lost control, or, rather, she never had control, over Captain Kirk and his crew. Which, if she had to be honest with herself, was understandable. Never once had she sat back and allowed someone else to dictate her command, or the fates of her crewmen. The officers of the _Enterprise_ were certainly no different, and to them... their focus was on the present. Not on the past, not on the future. It had to be. They were living in the now—and _now _their captain was captured, their ship had been flung to another time, into another quadrant, and they had get him back and then get themselves back. How ridiculous to ask them to put their lives on hold so _Voyager_ could treat them like relics and decide their fate.

And Kirk was correct, if the tables were turned, she wouldn't blindly follow him wherever he may lead. But that didn't change the fact that now _they_ were ultimately in control over the outcome of _Voyager_'s past, present, and future. The lives of her crew _were_ being decided by the actions of a third party, which was wholly unacceptable. Kathryn could only allow them so much understanding and autonomy, as she wasn't about to risk the future – the past – of the entire Federation to save his crew the discomfort of not being in control. She just had no idea what to do about it.

"Computer, time."

_"0500HRS."_

Kathryn sighed and got up. The rescue team was scheduled to leave in six hours. Spock had agreed to let Chakotay accompany him, and to let Tom pilot the Flyer in case they fell under attack, but only after some serious pressure from her end.

"Coffee, black," she told the replicator.

A pie appeared. She leaned down and examined it. "Blueberry..." she said, taking the pie. It was Chakotay's favorite, maybe she would save it for him.

"Either you're still mad at me for snapping at you the other day, or B'Elanna's team still hasn't gotten around to fixing you guys yet." She stroked the top of the machine. "Which is it, hmm? I am sorry for being so curt with you, it wasn't your fault I was angry the other morning. Should we try for some coffee again?"

Her door chirped and she jumped. Whoever was at the door couldn't hear her talking to her replicator, but she blushed anyway at the absurdity of the scene. "Just a second," she called as she went to grab a robe to throw over her pajamas. _I hope it's not Chakotay,_ she thought. _No, that's not true. I do hope it's Chakotay. No, that's not true,_ she thought, shaking her head on the way to the door._ I hope it's Seven. I don't want to have things be any harder than they have to be with him. But it's probably Chakotay. _

She pressed the pad and her door opened. It was Chakotay. She smiled in spite of herself. His hair was tussled and his uniform was un-pressed... he looked like he had just climbed out of bed.

"Come in, Commander."

"Did I wake you, Captain?" he asked.

"Oh, no, I was just... no, no you didn't," Kathryn replied. "What can I do for you?"

The doors shut behind Chakotay and he sighed. He looked miserable, and something told her that she hadn't been the only one up all night. He didn't say anything, but he headed for her couch and took a seat. She followed, cautiously, and watched his eyes land on the pie on the dining room table.

"Oh, I replicated this for you!" she said grabbing it and bringing it over to him with a warm smile. "Kind of a bon-voyage gift."

He examined her for a moment and then let out a hearty laugh. His whole face brightened about twenty watts. "If you want coffee, you have to ask it for blueberry pie," he explained, taking the pie. "I do have to say, this has been one of my favorite replicator malfunctions... luckily, you seem to be the only one who knows of my affinity for the dessert. Otherwise I'm sure I'd be up to my knees in them by now."

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"Not a thing," he said, taking a bite. She went back over to the replicator and asked for a blueberry pie, and, sure enough, it gave her a steaming cup of coffee. She mouthed "thank you" to the machine, then returned to her seat in front of him and steeled herself for whatever discussion he wanted to have in her quarters... at five o'clock in the morning. He took the cue and set down the pie.

"Listen, Kathryn, I know – trust me, I _know – _that your position on us isn't going to change. And you know my feelings. But clearly _something_ has changed these last few days, and I want to talk about it."

Mixed signals.

_I'm sending him mixed signals, that's what he wants to say but he's too polite to say it. Dear man. _She was hot, she was cold. She was flipping the switch between Kathryn and Captain too quickly for him to keep up. He kept pressing on the barriers that kept them apart, and she kept letting him push them down. Then she built them back up again. But it had been _her_ who went to hug _him_ last night, and it had been _her_ who vocalized her love for him just the night before that. What did she expect from him now? She didn't even know; it was impossible for him to know.

It was Kirk's story about Edith Keeler, mainly. Having to watch her be hit by an automobile, fully able to pull her out of the way but duty-bound to let her die. She still couldn't get it out of her mind. And just having them all here, blissfully unaware of their futures, which her crew knew well enough to write reports on. Would history have looked back on Kirk differently, had he taken a wife? But it wasn't about marriage, it was about marriage to a member of his crew. And Kirk knew the line to draw. He certainly wasn't short on romance, but he did keep his hands off his yeoman.

"Chakotay... I know. I'm sorry." She wanted to sit next to him, hold his hand, let themselves take comfort in each other but she knew she had to stop giving in. She had to draw the line, right here, right now. She stood up. "I'm sorry, but we can't do this. You're right, we can't have a relationship. I love you, I do, you know I do. And I can't really tell you what has made me... open up these past few days, but it needs to stop."

Chakotay looked up at her with a sad smile. "So... you're breaking up with me, then?"

She tried to laugh, but it was a pitiful attempt. "It's not you, it's me."

"Of course it is," Chakotay said, standing up and moving towards her. His hair was a mess, and all she wanted to do was brush it away from his face. It took her entire reserve of strength to keep her fingers from stroking the top of his forehead. "You're my best friend, you know," he said simply.

"You're mine."

"That's enough for me, Kathryn. It really is. You know what Tennyson said, 'Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.' I've loved being allowed to hold you, to touch you, these past few days but I don't look at it as loss. I don't need that. I don't need physical contact to be happy. I need _you._"

"I told you once that I couldn't imagine a day without you. If it was true then, it's my entire foundation now, Chakotay."

"Can I at least have one last hug?" he asked with a valiant attempt at a playful tone. She began to decline the offer but he spoke first. "I might die on this mission, you know."

She scoffed and slapped his arm, and he chuckled. It wasn't funny. _Twisted, sick man,_ she thought angrily. But she moved in and allowed him to scoop her up and hold her, and, once again, it took every ounce of strength she had to break away from his embrace.

* * *

><p>Hours of research and planning later, the group of senior officers from two different time periods were gathered in front of the <em>Delta Flyer<em> to see the rescue team off and discuss last-minute tactical information and strategy.

They all said their good-byes in a very Starfleet manner; a lot of "good lucks" and "god-speeds." Janeway and Chakotay only nodded somberly at each other, their sentiments had already been exchanged. Dr. McCoy's furious demeanor was back, and he was hounding the senior science officer to be careful and to "not do anything Jim wouldn't do." Spock just nodded along, arms folded, not even barely hiding his annoyance at the ranting doctor.

Tom and B'Elanna held on to each other, silently, until Tom gently pushed her away and scanned her face. "Hey," he said pulling the Klingon's chin up and looking into her eyes, which were growing misty, "this is just one step up from routine, B'Elanna. We're going to be fine. I really don't know why you're so worried."

"I know, I know," she said, blinking away the tears. "I don't know why I'm being so emotional. Just... just be careful, Tom," she smiled. He nodded and pulled her into him again before heading to the _Delta Flyer_.

B'Elanna walked off and took her place beside her fellow chief engineer. Scotty tenderly put his hand on her shoulder. "He'll be back soon, lass. What do you say we head back to Engineering and get our hands greasy?"

B'Elanna smiled at him and stifled a laugh. "There is absolutely, positively _no _grease on my warp core, Mr. Scott."

"Ah, well, that takes a bit o' fun out of it," he joked. "Y'know, you can just call me Scotty."

She turned her head towards him and took in the invitation for a first-name basis. "And you can call me B'Elanna... Scotty," she said with a smile. "I've always wondered, do they call you 'Scotty' because your name's Scott, or because you're Scottish?"

"That's a very good question," he chuckled as they walked off. "And if you get a few rounds o' whiskey in me, I might start a-talkin'." He slapped his hand on the side of the Turbolift. "Say, are these things still running on dilithium?" B'Elanna didn't stifle her laugh at that one.

Captain Janeway watched as the engineering team left, marveling for a moment at how quickly they had forged a friendship. The rest of officers exited the shuttle bay to allow the _Delta Flyer_ to take off, and she shot one last glance over her shoulder at it. Well, at Chakotay.

The look on her face was not lost on Dr. McCoy.

* * *

><p>"Twenty seconds to launch. Powering impulse engines," Tom narrated. "Bringing aft thrusters online."<p>

"Ten seconds to launch," Chakotay counted down. Spock sat in back, he had received explicit instructions to not interact with any of the technology on the Flyer. He was to sit back and let Lt. Paris and the Commander fly the shuttle, and so far he had no reason to doubt their competence.

"Close the hatch," Tom instructed.

"The hatch is sealed."

"All right, here we go, gentlemen! Give me aft thrusters!" Tom said enthusiastically. Chakotay complied, and they felt the vibrations as the Flyer lifted gracefully out of the shuttle bay and flew away from_ Voyager_. "At current velocity, we'll reach the planet in about fifteen minutes. Should be a pretty smooth ride."

"All right," Chakotay said getting up and sitting in the back next to Spock. "Lets go over this one last time."

Spock cocked his head at Chakotay. "I have been briefed, and then re-briefed, on the objectives of this mission, Commander. I do not feel that it is necessary that we regurgitate the details to each other now."

"I know, but humor me. I'm only human," Chakotay said with a grin. Spock was not amused.

"We will enter orbit of the planet directly opposite the position of the metropolis, and wait for a shuttle to be launched and the shields to dissipate. We will then remain just long enough for Lt. Paris to beam us to the surface of the planet. The coordinates we have chosen are 5.786 kilometers from the outermost infrastructure. Lt. Paris will use a biomatter scrambling field generated from the _Delta Flyer_ in an attempt to mask our transport signal from the planet's sensors, and then he will return to_ Voyager_. We will be able to contact the ship with your miniature communicator, your 'comm-badge,' but there will be no way to conceal the communications signal and therefore we must remain out of the contact with the ship until we have found a way to retrieve the Captain. Is this a satisfactory analysis of the plan?"

"Yes, Mr. Spock, thank you. I only want to make sure we're prepared. We don't know what we're going to find when we get down there. As a Maquis, this kind of infiltration was commonplace, and with your resourcefulness, I'm confident we'll be able to bring Kirk back safely."

"I am unfamiliar with that species, Commander," Spock said with a hint of curiosity.

"Maquis? Oh, no, it was... well, it's not important," Chakotay brushed off Spock's inquiry.

"You know, Mr. Spock," Tom called behind him. "I've always been an admirer of the internal design of the original _Enterprise_."

"It is a great deal more... vibrant than your ship, Mr. Paris."

"Oh, that's not what I mean. I designed this shuttle actually, with a bit of homage to early space ship designs," he replied. "I love the way the buttons, knobs, and levers make you really... _feel_ the ship you're piloting. Today everything is flat and responds to your touch. It's... you don't get to connect with your vessel."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I fail to see the advantage of being able to 'feel' the ship. Eliminating the knobs, buttons, and levers would only boost the efficiency of the pilot."

"Well, yeah, sure, if you want to strip all romance out of it," Tom said.

"You would get along with Seven of Nine, Spock," Chakotay informed him. "She loves efficiency.

"The cyborg?" Spock asked.

"Yes, although she is almost completely human now."

"Fascinating. What is the meaning of her designation 'Seven of Nine'?" Spock asked.

The ship shook violently and Chakotay returned to his station. "Structural integrity at 67%. Report, Tom. What was that?" he demanded.

"I'm getting mixed signals. We've been hit by some kind of spacial force field, Commander. It's locked onto us and it's pulling us towards the planet, but we're also caught in beam that's pushing us away. We're being pulled and pushed in both directions... the spacial force field is winning."

"They have detected the shuttle," Spock asserted. "What is the current distance between this vessel and the planet? Are we within transport range?"

"At the rate we're being pulled in, less than a minute and we will be," Tom answered.

"The field is tearing micro-fractures in the hull," Chakotay reported. "We need to break free of the field, Tom."

"We _need_ to get within transport range, Chakotay. The Flyer will hold up against the field as long as-" A blast hit the ship. "-as long as they don't open fire! Evasive maneuver gamma nine."

"The good news is the planet has had to lower its shields to deploy its weapons."

"I can still engage the biomatter scrambling field, but it might not be effective if they're watching us. I'll stick around for a minute and keep their eyes on the sky while you guys find somewhere to hide, but I'll only be able to fend them off for another few minutes." Another blast rattled the ship. "Engaging the field, sending the coordinates to the transporter. You guys ready?"

"We're ready. As soon as we're on the surface, don't worry about us. Retreat to _Voyager_. Understood, Lieutenant?"

"Aye-aye, Commander," Tom said, not taking his eyes away from his console. "Engaging the transporter." He looked up. "Good luck."

Spock and Chakotay nodded and with a swirl of lights they dematerialized from the Flyer.

"All right, Kazons," Tom said quietly. "You want to dance? Lets dance."

* * *

><p>The door to her Ready Room chirped, and Janeway looked up from the pile of data she was trying to lose herself in. "Come in." It was, yet again, Dr. McCoy. He seemed to really want to test the theory that her door was always open.<p>

"Good afternoon," McCoy said as he strode in casually, taking a seat on her couch against the wall, back again to his friendly demeanor. His smile was warm enough to melt ice and she couldn't resist but to grin back at him. "How are you doing, Captain?"

"Doctor, can I assist you with something? Or did you just come here to chat?"

"I just came here to chat," he stated very matter-of-factly.

Janeway laughed softly at his honesty. "Well, doctor, I'm sorry, but-"

"We're not in Sick Bay, ma'am," he interrupted. "You can call me Bones." Everyone on Kirk's ship seem to be on a first-name basis. Well, a nick-name basis. _Everyday was casual Friday,_ Janeway thought, amused.

"Okay, Dr. Bones," she said with a smirk. "I am sorry, but I have a mountain of paperwork to get through. I've been distracted for the past few days, and now I really do need to focus. Perhaps we could grab lunch in the Mess Hall tomorrow?"

McCoy was unfazed. "What has you so distracted, Captain?" he asked coyly.

"Well, I can see it's not of much consequence to_ you_, Dr. McCoy, but the _Enterprise_ has cast a pretty huge shadow over my week," she said playfully.

"No, I don't think that's it. I think your mind has been on your First Officer," McCoy said nonchalantly, yet deliberately. She turned her chair towards him and gave him her full attention, jaw slightly dropped. She couldn't believe the nerve he had to come in here and accuse her of harboring secret feelings for her First Officer.

"Excuse me?" she said, an eyebrow up, with a tone that dared him to continue. He continued.

"Listen, Captain," McCoy said getting up and flattening his uniform. "I understand why you don't want to talk about it. And I promise that you're not as obvious about your feelings as my previous statement might indicate. In fact, if Spock hadn't said something, I would have been completely oblivious to the stolen glances and dilated pupils you two kids share when you're in the same room."

She wanted to bury her face in her hands, but she forced herself to maintain eye contact with the Doctor. _Spock_ had alerted him of her feelings? If these people could tell after five minutes alone with her and Chakotay the feelings they had for each other, there was no way the crew was oblivious to them.

He paused, searching for his words, and continued. "But I also understand that you're trapped out here in the Delta Quadrant with no one to talk to but your crew, who you can't confide in because... well, because they're your crew. And the one person with whom you should be able to discuss your feelings and opinions openly, well, he's the source of the problem."

McCoy leaned against her desk and met her dangerous glare with soft, mischievous eyes. "And, thanks to you, I find myself useless. Jim is gone, Spock is gone, there are no wounded crew on the _Enterprise_. I have been prohibited from visiting your Sick Bay and have been restricted from contact with your chief medical officer. There is nothing for me to do but act as counselor to a Captain who has none. And, to add icing to the therapeutic cake, I will soon be gone and unable to share your feelings with anyone! I am the perfect confidant! If it makes you feel better, I'll even sign a doctor-patient confidentiality agreement."

She rested her chin in her palm and took in his words. He actually seemed to genuinely want to help ease her burden. She didn't understand this man at all, and before she could analyze the consequences of her actions, she stood up and motioned McCoy back to the couch. She wasn't sure if it was because of his kind, Southern quality that made her want to open up, or because of the sheer emotional exhaustion she felt. Maybe it was because she still couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him.

"Okay, Doctor," she said. "Lets talk." He smiled widely.

They sat down and she let out a deep breath. She hadn't even said anything yet, but she felt as if a ton of bricks had been lifted from her shoulders. It had been years... nearing a decade, since she had been able to speak openly with someone. Except Chakotay. But even then, Dr. McCoy was right, he _was_ the source of her emotional turmoil. McCoy was looking at her expectantly, and she took another deep breath. She had forgotten how this open-conversation thing worked.

McCoy understood the hesitation and began for her. "Well, what's keeping you guys apart?"

She laughed at the mixture of innocence and absurdity in the question. "You're not actually asking me that, right?"

"I most certainly am asking you that! I get it, Starfleet protocol, blah blah..." he trailed off and waved his hand in dismissal. "You might never return to the Alpha Quadrant. You better have a damn good reason why you're willing to sacrifice your _life_, your soul, to uphold a rule in some footnote of some line of some paragraph of some Starfleet command manual."

She cocked her head at him. "It's a little bit more important of a rule than that. _Especially_ because we're lost out here and may never get back to the Alpha Quadrant, although I'm far from giving up on returning home. I need to maintain the command structure."

"I see," McCoy said, absorbing her argument. "So... is it Chakotay that you don't have faith in, or is it your crew? Or, even worse, do you just not have faith in yourself?"

"Excuse me?" her voice was defensive, but his candor with her was like a splash of cold water on a summer day, and she soaked it in.

"Do you not trust that Chakotay would be able to compartmentalize enough to keep his feelings for you out of his duties as First Officer? Or do you not trust that your crew would still recognize your authority if they knew you were... giving into biology? Or do you not trust yourself to be able to separate the Captain and Kathryn?"

He sounded just like Chakotay while they were waiting on New Earth to be taken back up to _Voyager_, before he had given up and subscribed to her insistence that they couldn't have a relationship beyond their professional one. She sighed. She had easily dismissed Chakotay's arguments then, but now, sitting here with a random historical third party, years later, she wasn't so steadfast. After all, she _had_ been separating the Captain and Kathryn this entire time.

"Chakotay would be great. He wouldn't be caught off guard, and he would keep his hands where they belong while we were on the Bridge," she said with wry smile. "And the crew... they would be gallant and gracious and... and they would be happy for us. I, however," she pinched the top of her nose, "I am a nervous wreck right now, and we're not even together."

"Good golly, I didn't say it was going to be easy!" he said, exasperated, shaking his head. "I'm going to tell you something I told Spock once, after Jim had fallen for a woman who turned out to be a highly advanced android... who didn't know she was an android..."

Kathryn gave him a confused look, and McCoy shrugged. "It's a long story. Anyway, I told Spock that I felt sorrier for _him_ than I did for the captain, who was devastated and broken-hearted, because Spock'll never know the things that love can drive a man to... the ecstasies, the miseries, the broken rules, the desperate chances, the glorious failures... and the glorious victories. All of these things he'll never know, simply because the word 'love' isn't written into his Vulcan book of rules. You're denying yourself the same thing, because it's written into_ your_ book of rules and regulations that you must. Love's not an easy thing, Captain. But it is a powerful thing. A strong thing. And a good thing."

"But it's selfish to put my own needs above the needs of the crew, Doctor. If we had met on a deep space assignment that had an end in sight, I know exactly how it would have panned out. We would have subtly flirted in the Turbolift, but maintained a professional distance from one another. We would brush up against each other in the halls, letting our hands touch slightly..." she felt herself slipping into helpless fantasy and she re-focused and returned to the conversation. "But then we would keep walking and not look back. And as soon as our assignment was completed, we would have given everything to each other. If the circumstances were different, we would probably be married with children by now. I can't imagine my life without him. But I demand Starfleet standards from my crew, and I must demand them from myself," her voice was firm but her eyes threatened to well up and spill over.

"It's a mistake, you know," McCoy said softly, leaning forward and putting his hand over hers. He squeezed it gently and, looking away, she let a tear escape. _Who _is _this man? _she wondered, suddenly sure that she had felt his hand cover hers before today. "You've held yourself together long enough, Captain. You've taken care of yourself and this ship, and I'm sure countless other crews you've encountered. It's time to let _him_ take care of _you_. You're absolutely right; it'll hurt worse when he beams down into the unknown of an uncharted planet. It'll be harder to maintain your composure when he's on a shuttle that's under fire." She looked back and him and wiped at tears on her face. "But the times in between the dangers, the moments when it's just you and him, that's what makes the struggle the rest of the time worth it."

Janeway looked back into his eyes. This strange man was yelling at her one minute and spelling her life out to her the next. She loved Chakotay, but she just wasn't sure she was up to leading a double-life.

"Dr. McCoy, I-"

Harry's voice over the intercom cut her off. _"Captain, the _Delta Flyer _is within range. It's sustained heavy damage, but there's one life-sign aboard. Tom's hailing us now."_

"Acknowledged. On my way." She shook her head and wiped her face one more time, and steeled herself before she stood up. She wanted to say something to McCoy, to thank him, but he just smiled and shook his head. He didn't need to hear it. The doctor stood up and tenderly led her out to the Bridge.


	9. Chapter 8: Tactical Advantage

CHAPTER EIGHT_  
>Tactical Advantage<em>

There were guards lining the entire perimeter of the building. Chakotay and Spock still had no idea what, exactly, they were looking at. The building was just a giant, rectangular, brown box with no windows and one rectangular opening where there should have been a door. Most of the buildings in the metropolis looked exactly like it, but this was the only one so heavily guarded. It seemed that Tom's scrambling field had worked, as none of the guards seemed even the least bit concerned that there could be intruders. Their positions indicated they were more worried that someone might attempt to come _out_ of the building, than to try to go in.

Without especially accurate readings on the planet's geography, the first officers had been beamed down into an utterly wide-open valley, and had set off running for probably four kilometers before they found a hill of rocks to hide behind, just a short distance from the outer rim of the metropolis. There was nothing but vast expanse outside of the city; no rivers, no trees, no life of any kind. It was eerie. The metropolis stood in the barren tundra completely alone.

The dampening field was only around the planet, and from their position behind the hill they were able to pick up Kirk's life-sign on the tricorder. Chakotay had watched as Spock's entire body loosened at the development. They had then waited until two guards had rounded a corner, alone, and they had stunned them and taken their uniforms. Captain Janeway probably would not have approved. They could see the mysterious shuttles continuously being launched from somewhere within the metropolis.

In their newly acquired uniforms, they followed Kirk's signal to this giant brown box of a building, and were now crouched behind a waste compactor waiting for an opportunity to move in.

"According to my scans," Spock whispered, "the power center is located directly in the center of this complex. I am reading sixty-seven force field generators; it is logical to assume that they are being used to hold the prisoners."

"I don't see a way in, besides that opening, Spock," Chakotay said. There were five guards on the side of the building that they were facing, all loaded down with weapons. There was no way they would be able to fight them. And there were still multiple other guards posted on the other sides. And the occasional policeman trolling the street. The only life they had seen were the military enforcements, not a single civilian had passed them. The metropolis was huge, but this was a ghost town.

"I believe I am prepared with enough information to disable their generators," Spock said. "I will approach them and attempt to enter the building. They will have one of two reactions. They will not question my uniform, and allow me to enter. Or, more likely, as I am clearly of a different species, they will recognize that I am not a part of their organization, and capture me. Either way, I will be inside the complex. I will take the pylic discharger and when the power center is disrupted, you will be able to follow me in."

"No... no, that's much too risky. What if they capture you and throw you into a cell, and you're unable to reach the generator? You have a much better chance at being able to disrupt it than I do. If someone is going to act as a distraction, it should be me. I'll take the pylic discharger, and I'll approach the guards. Same scenarios apply. They might let me in, but they'll probably stop me. But if they try to stop me, I'll put up a hell of a fight and there's your opportunity to sneak in unnoticed. Okay?"

Spock was quiet a moment as he analyzed the logic of Chakotay's plan. He nodded in agreement and handed over the pylic discharger. "Good luck, Commander" Spock said. Chakotay raised his eyebrows at the Vulcan, who shrugged. "It is a human courtesy to wish someone 'good luck' before they partake in a particularly difficult task," he explained. "It is unnecessary but I have found humans often take comfort in the sentiment."

"Thank you, Spock," Chakotay said with a hand on the other first officer's shoulder. Kirk's whole crew was chock-full of surprises. He took a breath and emerged from his hiding place and approached the line of guards.

At first, they didn't make a move towards him. They didn't acknowledge him at all, and he grew confident. He could feel Spock's eyes burning into the back of his neck.

As he got to the opening, the two guards nearest the entrance turned their attention to him. They had no way of knowing what these people referred to themselves as, or what their hierarchy of command was, so he didn't attempt to identify himself. He just nodded at them, and made his way towards the entrance.

But the guards moved in front of him and blocked the path. Their faces remained expressionless, like they weren't surprised at his arrival, and they didn't really care about him either. It was simply their job to keep him out.

_Here we go_, Chakotay thought as he wound up for a fight.

He punched the first guard and took out his phaser, already set on stun, on a spread-shot, and and aimed it at the group of guards coming slowly from around the building. They all fell to the ground, and like a wave of life had washed over the bored guards, they all sprung into action. A guard grabbed him from behind, but he broke the hold and threw the him to the ground. Then he ran down the street, trying to draw them away from the entrance so Spock could sneak in.

He made it just few meters when an electric blast hit Chakotay from behind and his entire body convulsed. A shock ran through his core to his fingers, and he fell limp onto the ground. Everything went black.

* * *

><p>"On screen, Mr. Kim," Captain Janeway instructed as her and the doctor emerged from her Ready Room.<p>

Tom appeared on the view-screen. He was in one piece, but there was smoke coming from multiple consoles on the _Delta Flyer_. "Requesting permission to dock, Captain."

"Granted, Mr. Paris. What happened?"

"I was able to beam Spock and Chakotay down to the planet, but we were detected. They fired torpedoes at the Flyer _from_ the planet, but they didn't launch a ship to attack. I don't know how to explain it... but they didn't seem to_ want_ to hit me. I mean, as you can see, the _Delta Flyer_ took a quite a few hits but it was mainly phaser fire. The torpedoes they launched were all easy to avoid. I circled the planet a couple of times to give Spock and Chakotay some time to take cover, and then zig-zagged around for a while to make sure I wasn't being followed. As soon as I left their space, they lost interest and the shields went back up. I couldn't get any further readings on the rescue team after that, but when their shields went down, I did pick up Kirk's life-sign. He's alive."

McCoy brought his hands together behind his back and mumbled something under his breath about giving Kirk a piece of his mind.

"Thank you, Mr. Paris. We'll see you when you dock."

"Aye-aye, Captain. Paris out." And the screen went black.

"Well," Janeway said, turning to her crew. "I think that's the first piece of good news we've gotten these past few days. Lets all take a breath, and return to our research. I want to know everything there is to know about what's going on on that planet, how and why the Kazons are involved with them, and any information we can pull from our scans of the enemy vessel before it self-destructed. Anything and everything. We'll meet in the Briefing Room at 1600HRS." Janeway clapped her hands and feigned a smile. "Lets get to work!"

She headed to the Turbolift on her way to Astrometrics as her crew began shuffling around the Bridge taking their research stations. The Captain let herself exchange a look with Dr. McCoy before the doors shut. If the damage done to the _Delta Flyer_ was the Kazons' version of taking it _easy_ on them, and if the Flyer's only infraction was getting too close to their space... it made her whole body hurt to think what they would do to Chakotay if they found him. As soon as the doors shut she leaned against the wall and buried her face in her hands.

* * *

><p>Chakotay's eyes flickered open and the room came slowly into focus around him. Something... some<em>one<em> was gently slapping his cheek.

"Wake up, Tattoo. Wake up," the man whispered. Chakotay blinked away the blur and tried to push himself up, but the man pushed him back down. It was Captain Kirk. Chakotay couldn't feel the lower half of his body and his heart began to race. "You're all right," the captain said softly. "They just stunned you. The effects will wear off in a few minutes," he assured, his hand on Chakotay's upper arm.

The fog began to lift and Chakotay took in his surroundings. They were clearly in a prison cell, with two rock beds on either side of the room and a commode in the middle. The rock beds had pillows and multiple blankets. There were no windows in the room or bars over the opening to the cell, but the force field that kept them inside was sparkling with electric pulses. The walls were brown and plain, just like the exterior of the building. All he could see from the opening of the cell were more cells; they were definitely in some kind of prison. There was a basket in the corner with nutritional supplements, and it had been wrapped up with colorful ribbons like a birthday present.

The Captain's shirt was slightly torn in a few places, and his lip was bloody. But other than that, he looked fine. Chakotay was sprawled out on the floor and Kirk was kneeling beside him.

"What..." Chakotay's voice came out raspy and he felt like sandpaper was scraping the lining of his throat.

"I'm not quite sure," Kirk said, scanning the area of the cell as if to gather information he didn't already have. "I don't know what they want from us. But I can tell you this, if you're going to be thrown into prison, this is the prison you want to be in," he said, motioning to the gift basket in the corner. His voice dropped low, "I've built a bit of a friendship with one of the guards here. I think that may be our best bet at escape. There's no use trying to break out of here, I've tried everything. We're going to have to wait until they try to move us or until Spock..." Kirk suddenly looked worried. "Spock _is_ okay, right?"

Chakotay nodded and Kirk let out an almost undetectable sigh of relief. To the best of Chakotay's knowledge Spock was all right.

"Or until Spock is able to disrupt the fields, or whatever his plan is. I tore this cell apart the first day I was here, until finally I succumbed to his voice in my head saying..." the Captain straightened his back and turned his face to stone, eyebrows raised, and gave his best impression of his First Officer, "'It is illogical, Captain, to waste your reserve of energy and strength on a task which you are guaranteed to fail.'" He loosened his body and looked back down at Chakotay. "Can't get the man's Vulcan logic out of my head sometimes. That's why I look so tattered... When they beamed me to the surface, they immediately stunned me and I woke up here... paralyzed but unharmed. They haven't even interrogated me, but they won't answer my questions either. I don't know what to make of it."

Chakotay was relieved to hear that the Captain had not been tortured and was fine, albeit detained. He only wished there were someway to convey the news to his crew on the _Enterprise_, who were still worrying themselves sick. The feeling was beginning to return to his legs and he shifted his position. Kirk stood up and held out a hand to help him up, and Chakotay took it. He guided Chakotay over to the bed. The excruciating aching in his muscles was beginning to fade, and he was able to wiggle his toes.

"Captain..." Chakotay began, but his voice trailed off as a guard approached the cell.

It was a woman, and a species he had never seen before, but the same species as the guards outside the prison. Certainly not a Kazon. Her skin was covered in thin stripes, and her hair grew out in one long curly cluster from the base of the back of her head. Her eyes were soft, but she was strapped with weapons and armor and did _not_ wear a kind expression on her face.

Captain Kirk turned his body towards her, and she pressed some buttons on the outside of the cell and the force field flickered off. She stepped in, and it flickered back on behind her. She locked eyes with Captain Kirk and then turned her focus to Chakotay.

"Welcome to Beelik, Commander Chakotay," the guard said graciously with a slight bow. Her voice was almost mechanical; monotone, with no warmth to her words.

_Did I just get welcomed... to prison?_ he wondered, astonished.

"We do not like to think of this as a prison," she said as if she had read his thoughts. "We think of Beelik as a Citizen Protection Center. We must either protect the public from our guests, or it is the guests who must be protected from the public. My name is Ireekal. If you require any assistance or additional items which we have not provided, you will let me know." She stood in front of him, examining him.

"...Thank you," Chakotay said with a nod and a half-smile, unsure of how to respond to her. She returned his nod, and shifted her body towards Captain Kirk.

"Do you require any additional items which we have not provided?," she asked him.

"No, thank you," he said with a sly smile, moving slightly closer to her. "You look beautiful today, Ireekal."

"I look the same today as I did yesterday, Captain James Kirk," her voice cracked slightly when she said his name, "and I will also look the same tomorrow."

"Well, then, I guess you look beautiful every day," he said moving even closer. The Captain slowly raised his hand and let it softly stroke the guard's cheek. Ireekal put a hand on her phaser but didn't move away from him. Chakotay, eyebrows raised, watched in stark disbelief as Captain Kirk tried to... _seduce_ the female guard.

Ireekal moved away from him and pulled out a pad from her belt of weapons. She pressed some buttons and the transparent force field went black. Kirk smiled widely at her. They had gone through this before Chakotay realized, still in disbelief. It was then Ireekal who moved towards the Captain and violently pulled his mouth to hers.

At this, Chakotay's jaw actually dropped and he turned his head to the wall, as a slight blush of embarrassment ran to his cheeks. _This is crazy!,_ he thought. He almost pinched his arm to make sure he was awake.

He listened as their lips smacked together and he pressed his eyes closed. Chakotay remained in that position, turned against the wall, eyes shut, trying to let his thoughts drift to anything that would drown out the awkward scene he was involuntarily a part of. He tried to think about their escape plan, Spock, _Voyager_, Kathryn – no, not Kathryn. That was _highly_ inappropriate at the moment.

He finally heard the beeps from the buttons on her pad, and he looked up to see the force field go from black, to transparent, to off. She stepped out coolly and stopped to look at the Captain one last time before the field reenforced itself. Then Ireekal continued down the corridor without saying a word.

Chakotay no longer hid his astonishment at the situation and raised his eyebrows at Kirk. The Captain just shrugged, laughed blissfully, and laid down on the bed opposite Chakotay.

* * *

><p>"All right, what have we got?" Janeway began. They were all, minus Kirk and the two first officers, assembled back in the Briefing Room at 1600HRS like she had instructed. Shuttles were still being launched from the metropolis, and every time the shielding around the planet went down, they got one more piece of the puzzle to work off of.<p>

"I'll go first, Captain," Harry said excitedly. "We were able to decode a message sent from the planet attached to one of the shuttles... we can't be sure, but we think the transmission was meant to be covert." He walked over to the screen and pulled up the message.

The Four have discovered the Thirteen, and subtracted Five.  
>The One has been joined by the Two.<br>The Eight protected the many.  
>The Four have multiplied by X. 4(X)=Y.<br>The Y has been divided by the Fourteen.  
>The Eight will continue to protect the Three.<br>Two of the Three are safe.  
>One of the Three is the Eight's best hope.<br>End Transmission.

"We don't know what it means... but it's the closest we've gotten to a clue about the planet's inhabitants. If they're sending coded messages, masked and piggy backed on shuttles, I think it's safe to assume some kind of internal conflict," Harry reasoned.

"Any ideas about what any of these numbers might mean?"

"We have only been able to detect four Kazon life-signs, Captain," The Doctor began. "It's possible that 'The Four' they are referring to are the Kazons. All of the numbers are capitalized, but some are prefaced by 'the.' I would assume this is indicative of pre-defined groups of people."

The crew's injuries were finally taken care of, and The Doctor had finally been able to make it to a meeting, but Janeway had made a trip to Sick Bay before it started and ordered The Doctor not let Dr. McCoy know that he was a hologram. Which inevitably sparked a whole debate on holographic rights, but Janeway knew exactly how Dr. McCoy, the man who didn't trust the transporter, would react if he knew they were being treated by a hologram, and she wanted to avoid the blow-up.

But she didn't tell The Doctor this.

She simply told The Doctor that she was trying to limit the _Enterprise_'s contact with advanced technology, and as The Doctor was the "absolute pinnacle of 24th century technological advancement," it was imperative he not be allowed to pollute them. And, of course, The Doctor had agreed with this.

"Maybe the 'Three' are Kirk, Spock, and Chakotay?" B'Elanna offered.

"That would make sense," Tom said. "The 'One' was joined by 'Two.'"

"That would mean Spock and Chakotay have been detected already," Janeway said with a heavy sigh.

"But it would also mean they're being _protected_ by the 'Eight,'" Neelix said optimistically.

"Who do we suppose the 'Eight' are?" Tom asked the group.

"Obviously some kind of underground movement," B'Elanna reasoned. "The message definitely seems to have been sent _from_ the 'Eight.' It's safe to assume that they're the good guys, if they're protecting the Away Team."

"Thirteen minus five is eight," Scotty informed them.

"You don't say?" McCoy said.

"_Maybe_ by 'subtracted' they mean... killed," Scotty clarified.

"That would fit our profile of the Kazons," The Doctor said. "Their culture has been known to deal with political strife, and absolutely all other issues, with violence."

"Here's what we have so far: The Kazons discovered the underground movement, and killed five of the members," Janeway translated from the screen. "Kirk was joined by Spock and Chakotay. The underground movement protected the _many_, we still don't know who that is. The Kazons multiplied somehow, then divided themselves into fourteen... sects? Two members of the Away Team are 'safe,' and the other one is for some reason the movement's best hope."

"Maybe the 'many' refers to the civilians, and the 'Eight' is protecting them from the Kazons?" McCoy offered.

"Maybe the 'many' refers to _us,_" Tom said. "I told you about how pathetic their attack on me was. Maybe they had no intention of hurting me, they just needed to make it seem like they did. To the Kazons."

"How could _four Kazons_ possibly take control of this civilization?" Neelix asked. "I mean, no offense, Kazons. But they're not the most intelligent species in the Quadrant."

"They gave us quite a run for our money, Neelix," Janeway countered.

"Any tactical advantage they ever had came from Seska. They weren't a threat by themselves."

"We still have gathered no data on the journey that brought them so far from Kazon space," Seven said calmly. "The vessel they were on when we first encountered them was _not_ a Kazon vessel, and was highly advanced. It is more probable that they have partnered with an alien species we have yet to identify."

"Seven's right. The Kazons aren't alone in this, there's no way," Harry chirped.

"Okay, besides the message, what else do we have?" Janeway asked the group.

The mystery of the Kazon involvement with this planet and the motives of the "Eight" were fascinating, and Janeway planned to get to the bottom of it. But the primary concern was getting Kirk, Spock, and Chakotay back. And then returning the _Enterprise_ to where they belonged. Otherwise all other conspiracies would be moot.

She sat back and listened to the rest of the teams report on their research, and struggled to keep her mind from drifting to Chakotay.

* * *

><p>"I always knew you were a ladies man, Captain, but..." Chakotay had not moved on from the encounter between the Captain and the guard. He had once or twice used his sexual charms in the line of duty, and Kathryn had told him about the time she posed as a prostitute to get into a prison.<p>

But Kirk had... the guard... they were...

"A ladies man? No. I wouldn't say that," Kirk responded thoughtfully, staring at the ceiling. "Well... only to gain tactical advantage," he said with a grin.

The effects of the phaser stun had worn off, and Chakotay was back to normal. Ready to jump on the opportunity for escape, whenever the opportunity should arise. Right now they were stuck, helpless, trapped in this... Protection Center. He had been stripped of all his weapons, and his communicator, but they hadn't known to take the small pylic discharger, which he had slipped up his sleeve. Spock would still be able to track him.

"Say, Tattoo," Kirk said, propping himself up on his elbow. He had taken it upon himself to assign Chakotay a nickname, and Chakotay wasn't sure how he felt about it. The little boy in him was excited that the great_ Captain James_ _T.__ Kirk_ had given him a nickname. But it also reminded him of Q and that just made him angry. Plus, really? Tattoo? He couldn't do better than that? _I think I would have preferred 'Dances with Wolves' or something at least minutely more witty that 'Tattoo,' _he thought. The earth history buffs at the Academy had loved to call him things like that; "Dances with Wolves," or "Sitting Bull." But "Tattoo" just seemed too painfully obvious.

"Yes, Captain?"

"What's going on between you and Captain Janeway?" Kirk said with a casual grin, as if they were just two guys at the gym talking about their love interests.

Chakotay's jaw dropped for the second time and he struggled to find the words, any words, to reply to him. "I- I-"

"It's okay, Chakotay. It's just us," Kirk said casually laying back down.

"There's nothing going on between the Captain and I," Chakotay said firmly.

"Oh, okay then," Kirk replied with his skepticism echoing freely through his tone. He was daring Chakotay to take the bait, and Chakotay had no idea what to do. No one had ever approached him like that before. The crew, all of them, even the smart-alecks like Tom Paris knew to keep quiet about him and the Captain, at least to their faces anyway. Who knew what rumors were being spread behind closed doors? With the exception of Q, no had ever called him out on his feelings before.

"Why would you think there was something going on?" Chakotay asked innocently. He grimaced as the words came out. He sounded just like a shy teenager. Wasn't Kirk just the other day _hitting_ on Kathryn?

"It was Spock! He sold you out. For a Vulcan he can be surprisingly perceptive on the range of human emotions." Kirk kept his eyes on the ceiling.

"Well, there's nothing going on between us."

"Maybe I could give you some... advice. Help you out," Kirk offered diplomatically, still laying on his prison bed. "I am no stranger to the pressures of love in space."

They sat there in silence for a few moments as Chakotay thought this through.

"She doesn't want a relationship," he blurted out, his sentence strung together like one long word. He drew back in shock that the words had actually escaped his mouth. He couldn't believe he had said it. To _Captain Kirk_. It had just spilled out.

That caught Kirk's attention and he sat up, making eye-contact with Chakotay. "She loves you." It was a statement, not a question.

"...Yes." Chakotay replied.

"She loves you, but she doesn't want a relationship."

"Yes."

"And you're okay with that?"

"No, I'm not _okay_ with that, no, sir," he responded, annoyed. "I can't simply force her into a relationship with me."

"But you've told her that you want a relationship?"

"Yes."

Kirk paused for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. He looked as if he was remembering something that he didn't want to let surface. "And she's letting Starfleet regulations keep her from being with you."

"Yes."

"How long have you been in love with her?"

Chakotay sighed. "From day one."

"Oh, you've got it bad, Tattoo," Kirk said sympathetically.

Chakotay nodded.

"Let me ask you a question," Kirk said, standing up. "When the Captain sends you on an assignment, do you give it your all?"

"Of course I do," Chakotay said indignantly.

"And is that because you're in love with her, or because she's your Captain?"

"She's my Captain. I'm her First Officer; I would die to protect her."

"You fight for her, because she's your Captain."

Chakotay didn't see where Kirk was headed. "Yes. I fight for her because she's my Captain," he repeated.

"Let me share a simple truth with you, Commander. Worlds are conquered, galaxies destroyed... but a woman is always a woman. You need to fight for your _woman_ with just as much vigor as you fight for your Captain. They are two different people, and they need two different warriors out of you."

The word "warrior" hit Chakotay in the gut.

"I have to respect her authority; she's still the Captain. Not some girl in school whom I am determined to take to the prom. She has said no, repeatedly, and I have pushed her, repeatedly."

"You haven't really fought for her, then" Kirk said, looking down, shaking his head.

"Did you ever have a serious relationship with someone under your command?" Chakotay asked. He already knew the answer to that, but he had a point to make. He was ashamed that point he was making was _Kathryn's_ point, not his own, but he felt the need to defend her position for some reason.

"I'm on a five-year mission! With Starfleet Command never too far away. If I fell in love with a crewman tomorrow, I could wait, patiently, for our mission to be over. The waiting would only strengthen our bond. You can't compare you and I. You can't compare your situation to anything, actually. If _you_ were on a five-year mission, I'd say 'go take a cold shower and suck it up, soldier,'" the tone to Kirk's voice made Chakotay crack a small grin. "But you're not. You're going to make that beautiful, passionate, sensual woman," he pointed at the ceiling, "up there live the rest of her life alone. And that's incredibly rude."

"I- There's- No, that's not the situation at all. I'm not making her do anything. She's made her decision, and I've tried to sway her. But my constant pressure is just making it harder on her, and it's making it harder on me. We can't be together, and I'm just hurting her more by making her constantly reject me."

"Don't give her the option to reject you! Take her in your arms, and make her give into you. You have to be aggressive, but tender. Ireekal didn't just come in here and decide to let her prisoner kiss her. You need to treat Janeway like a woman, not like your Captain. For her sake, and yours. Any close relationship you have with any member of your crew threatens to interfere with your command decisions. It doesn't need to be romantic in nature; they all affect you.

I could tell you story after story about times I've let my friendship for Spock influence decisions I've made. One time he got the entire ship trapped by a species that could have annihilated the ship with a snap of their fingers – just to make sure I was _actually_ dead. And he's a Vulcan! It says something about the depths of our friendship when _he's_ the one making emotional decisions because of it. And it stings more when he's the one injured, or when he's the one in danger. But it doesn't make us weaker, Commander. It makes us stronger. It makes us stronger as a command team, and it makes us stronger as individuals. And that's just friendship. We can't be all of the things to each other that you and your captain can."

Chakotay sat in silence and absorbed his words. He had never been given advice, from anyone, on what to do about the Captain. Kirk was basically telling him to shove her up against the wall in her quarters and force her to throw protocol to the wind.

Every part of him ached to do just that.

* * *

><p>Kathryn was back in her Ready Room, trying to decipher the mysterious message. Their meeting had ran long, and they had discussed everything from the velocity of the shuttles to the metals that comprised the building of the metropolis, to the arid land surrounding it. They were developing quite a textbook of useless facts about the planet, but they still had nothing concrete to base their theories on.<p>

_The Eight will continue to protect the Three. Two of the Three are safe. One of the Three is the Eight's best hope. _

Which officer was their best hope? Was it Kirk? Maybe it wasn't the Kazons that had beamed him to the planet, after all. Maybe it was the Eight. They needed him, somehow.

But, then again, maybe it was either Spock or Chakotay who was their best hope. Maybe one of them had been captured, and was safe with Kirk, but the other was trying to infiltrate the Kazons' operation. And they needed _his_ expertise if they hoped to challenge the Kazons' control.

Her door chirped. She intuitively knew it was Dr. McCoy, just like she always knew when it was Chakotay. She was becoming quite fond of the man, and was going to miss him and his candor - and his temper - when he left. "Come in," she called.

"Captain, it's 2200HRS!" he exclaimed, looking at his wrist as if he had an ancient earth timepiece strapped to it.

Janeway looked at him. "And?"

"Have you had dinner yet?" McCoy asked kindly.

"I have a lot of work to do... I feel like I'm so close to figuring out what these Eight are talking about," she said, shaking her PADD in the air.

His face grew stern. "Don't make me relieve you of duty," he threatened. She smiled at him.

"First of all," she drawled, "you have no authority on this ship. I hate to remind you, but it's the sad truth. Second of all, skipping a meal is never grounds for stripping a Captain of their command."

"You're testing me."

"I'm not," she laughed. "I'm just telling the truth. I know my rights."

"No one ever solved any of humanities great mysteries on an empty stomach," he reasoned.

"All right, Dr. McCoy-"

"Bones," he corrected.

"All right, Bones. I need some coffee anyway, will you accompany me to the mess hall?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he said, extending his arm to her.

* * *

><p>Chakotay and Kirk continued to wait in their cell. Since Ireekal had left, they hadn't received a single visit from a guard, or witnessed any activity in the hall.<p>

They instead sat and talked about everything from Kathryn to tribbles to every tough command decision either of them had been forced with. Slowly Chakotay had watched Kirk go from the confident, somewhat carefree, not-to-be-crossed Captain, to a man who was filled unanswerable questions and angst. Chakotay had opened up to him about what happened on New Earth, and the struggle to maintain his friendship with the Captain after they had returned home. And Kirk had rewarded his vulnerability by opening up as well, for no reason at all. They both just needed to vocalize their trials and tribulations to someone other than their personal log.

"I shudder to think of the light history has cast on us," Kirk had admitted to Chakotay. "It's something that you don't often think about while you are living: that every action you take, every mistake you make, will be cataloged and studied and scrutinized for generations to come. It's awfully arrogant just to assume that generations to come will even _care_ about what you did, or didn't do, even more so to think they'll _study_ it. But our encounter with _Voyager_ has made it clear to us that the actions we've taken _have_ been... or, rather, they _will_ be... examined under a microscope. And that scares me."

History didn't always get things right, and history was a man's harshest critic. History decided how a man's actions would be remembered for _eterni__ty_: if he would be revered, or cataloged into the category of "lets try not to make this mistake twice." History had remembered Kirk fondly, as a hero, but it remembered him as reckless and untamed. A man who broke the rules and never said he was sorry.

But sitting here with him now, listening the turmoil, regret, and passion in his voice, Chakotay felt a sting of regret for subscribing to that version of history. The man sitting before him didn't approach every nebula with guns blazing, but he was forced with choices and backed into corners that future generations of Starfleet officers wouldn't understand. But, here in the Delta Quadrant, outside the sphere of influence of the Federation, Chakotay got it.

_Voyager_ had, after all, made an alliance with the _Borg_. They had saved the Ocampa. They had picked up a few stray aliens along the way. _Voyager_ and the _Enterprise_ really weren't all that different.

Chakotay wondered if history would remember him as the man he was before, the angry Maquis warrior, or as the man he was now, who upheld Starfleet principles and would give his life to save his crew, or his Captain. Or Kathryn. If they never returned to the Alpha Quadrant, no one would never know who Chakotay really was. The man Kathryn had helped him become.

"Lets get back to you and your lady troubles, Tattoo," Kirk said, laying back down and looking back up at the ceiling.

Chakotay sighed. "I don't know, Captain."

"What's the worst that could happen? She could say no."

"And throw me in the brig!" They both laughed.

"It's just risk, and risk is our business. It's what we do. That's what our starships are all about: risk. That's why we're aboard them! You can't call yourself a Starfleet officer and shy away from a little risk."

"Perhaps." It didn't seem like a _little_ risk to Chakotay.

Kirk was pushing him to take a huge chance - to put himself out there like he hadn't done since their conversation before leaving New Earth; he had practically gotten on his knees and begged her to let them stay together. And with rivers streaming from both their eyes she told him that they couldn't. He hadn't even tried to hold back his tears. They had given into each other then, for the last time, in their old beige home in the wilderness. It was most bitter-sweet night of his life. And he had pushed her and pressured her after they got back to _Voyager_, but he never let himself be as vulnerable to her as he was that night. He had held his heart out to her, completely bare and unprotected. And it had been crushed. In the morning they had gotten up, out of each others' arms, put on their dusty uniforms, and didn't say a word. It made it easier; there were no words that could have alleviated either of their pain anyway.

"Are you hungry?" Kirk said, getting up and heading towards the nicely presented gift basket. As he reached down, the lights flickered for a moment before turning off. The force field crackled and disappeared. Chakotay and Kirk looked at each other.

"Spock!" they whispered in unison.

* * *

><p>"No, no, no," Scotty said. "No. You can't keep being <em>honest<em> with your repair estimates, B'Elanna."

"I'm not going to _lie_ to the Captain!" B'Elanna said indignantly.

"Oh, lass, it's not a _lie._ It's an exaggeration. No one ever chastised a journalist for a little hyperbole. It just keeps the story a little more interesting."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes at him and laughed. Between her team and his team, they had completed all the repairs _Voyager_ needed. His team had returned to the _Enterprise_, but B'Elanna had invited him to join Tom and her for dinner in the Mess Hall.

"I'm on Scotty's side here, B'Elanna," Tom said. "I think he's on to something. It just makes you look like-"

"Like a miracle worker!" Scotty chuckled. Tom gave B'Elanna an innocent shrug and she nudged him gently with her arm and smiled. He yawned and not-so-slyly stretched his arm up and draped it over her shoulders. She giggled and he pulled her into him.

Scotty beamed from the other side of the table at the young lovers. "You guys have any Scotch here on _Voyager_?" he asked.

The ensigns at the table next to them sat up a little straighter, and they all turned to see the Captain and Dr. McCoy walk in. "It's good that they're becoming friends, I think," B'Elanna said.

"She needs someone to talk to that's not part of _Voyager_," Tom agreed.

"Well, there's no better man for the job than McCoy," Scotty assured them. "He'll _make_ her get to the root of whatever's bothering her. And if she doesn't think _anything's_ bothering her, he'll dig until he _finds_ something that bothers her... and then he'll get to the bottom of _that_."

Tom and B'Elanna laughed. "He sounds almost as pushy as _our_ doctor," Tom joked.

Scotty didn't laugh and looked down at his hands.

Tom looked at B'Elanna and then over his shoulder. "Hi, Doc," Tom said.

"Hello, Mr. Paris," The Doctor said, his tone a little too nice, his smile a little too wide. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow morning before your duty shift, to run some labs in Sick Bay?"

Tom feigned a smile. "Of course, Doctor."

B'Elanna looked at Scotty and they stifled their laughter.

* * *

><p>Kirk and Chakotay stuck their heads out of the cell. The corridors were black. Completely black. There were no windows, and there was absolutely no source of light. Both of them had been dragged unconscious to the cell, and neither knew how to get back out. To both sides of them, there were just empty cells. But they couldn't even see the cell directly in front of them.<p>

"I think we should go this way," Chakotay said, pointing left.

"Which way are you pointing?"

"Left."

"No... no... we should definitely head to the right," Kirk said, pointing towards the darkness.

"Spock is most likely following the trail of the pylic radiation to get to us as we speak. We should probably wait for him," Chakotay said.

"What if he's been captured? We can't just wait around until they fix the power problem and throw us back in our cell," Kirk countered.

"You're right. How do we decide which way to go?"

"I outrank you. I say we go right."

Chakotay shot him an irritated glance, which Kirk couldn't see through the blackness. "No, there should be a logical choice we're not seeing."

All of the sudden a flame ignited less than a meter from their faces, and they leapt back. It was Ireekal.

"Follow," she demanded and walked off. Chakotay and Kirk looked at each other.

And followed.


	10. Chapter 9: The Fourth Wall

CHAPTER NINE_  
>The Fourth Wall<br>_

Sulu twirled the Captain's chair back and forth a little.

"They've been gone for a while now, Mr. Sulu," Uhura commented from the Communications Console.

"And zhey have not asked us for our opinion on anything!" Chekov exclaimed angrily. "Eez zhere a reason vee not been inwided to board zhee wessel?" he asked, motioning to the picture of _Voyager_ floating on the view-screen.

"I don't know what to tell you guys," Sulu replied in his deep, sultry voice. "They don't appear to need our help." He continued to swirl the chair back and forth.

"Well, I would appreciate some kind of consideration," Uhura said. "It's _our_ Captain who's lost out there. It's not like we're useless props."

Chekov shook his head passionately. "It eez as eef you mean nothing eef your name does nod appear in zhee opening credids!"

Sulu stopped twirling the chair.

"What?"


	11. Chapter 10: Meant to Be

CHAPTER TEN  
><em>Meant to Be<em>

Chakotay and the Captain followed Ireekal silently through the halls of the prison. He could feel his heart pounding, threatening to explode out of his chest; he could almost hear Kirk's heart doing the same. The glow of the flame didn't cast much light on their surroundings, and they kept going deeper and deeper into the prison. Ireekal had led them down several flights of stairs and now they had arrived at a series of dirt tunnels. The air was getting hotter and damper with each step. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed, and he continuously looked over his shoulder at the empty tunnels behind them. They hadn't any options other than to trust the strange woman, but Chakotay wasn't sure if they were being rescued or led to their deaths.

Finally, they stopped at a wooden door, almost invisible against the dirt walls of the tunnel, save for the thin black outline. Ireekal pressed her hand against the dirt and the door opened. Their eyes rested first upon Spock, standing stoically with his hands behind his back, surrounded by a group of aliens. They were all the same species as Ireekal, with thin stripes on their skins and thick, curly hair growing out the base of their skulls. Captain Kirk's body loosened slightly next to him; Spock didn't seem to be a captive of the group standing around him. There were seven of them – eight, including Ireekal, who moved to stand behind them.

"Spock!" Captain Kirk exclaimed as the door closed behind them. "You're alive!"

"Obviously," Spock said. "Captain, Commander," he greeted them, slightly bowing his head.

"Mr. Spock," Kirk responded, returning the professionalism. The Captain had lost his personable demeanor from the cell and the weight of command was back on his shoulders. He looked wearily at the group before them and Chakotay sensed he was gearing up for a fight.

Spock motioned to the eldest of the eight. "Captain, this is Leerig. He is their leader; he is the leader of the Bilstreecan Resistance. I successfully infiltrated the building undetected as the guards focused their attention on Chakotay, however when I arrived at the generator, Leerig stopped me. Captain, it seems the Kazon took you as bait to lure Captain Janeway back to this planet. Leerig and the Resistance have been protecting us. They made sure our arrival on this planet went undetected. They took care not to harm Lieutenant Paris, and they, not I, manufactured the generator blow-out that freed you from your cell."

Kirk extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Leerig," he said graciously. "I'm Captain James Kirk of the Federation Starship _Enterprise_, and this is Commander Chakotay of the Federation Starship _Voyager_. Thank you very much for keeping my First Officer safe and for all you have done for us today. We are in your debt." Leerig, no emotion registering on his face, took Kirk's hand in his tenderly.

"We know who you are, Captain James Kirk, Commander Chakotay. Our research has informed us of all necessary knowledge," Leerig responded in the same monotone voice Ireekal spoke with in the prison. "We have been waiting for you, citizens of the Federation, for years. You are our last and only hope."

* * *

><p>Kathryn and Dr. McCoy had gone to the mess hall to have a cup of coffee, but Kathryn had invited the doctor to share it with her in her quarters, so they could talk privately.<p>

McCoy had allowed her to speak with total candor for the first time in almost a decade, and now she craved it like a drug. It had been so long. He was a still a Starfleet officer, but with absolutely no ties to her world, and he was a Southern gentlemen casting no judgments.

And, oddly, he seemed to genuinely care about her.

Even more oddly, the more he spoke the more she was convinced that she had met him before.

They sat at her table with their coffees and discussed everything from their experiences at the Academy to Klingon cuisine. McCoy told Kathryn about the time the _Enterprise_ had been overtaken by the tribbles, and Kathryn told McCoy about the time _Voyager_ had been overtaken by the macrovirus. The giant germs had wreaked havoc on her crew. An interesting story for a doctor, she figured. Significantly less entertaining than the tribble catastrophe, however.

He, of course, masterfully turned the conversation back to Chakotay. This time she didn't resist. She welcomed the release.

"I had never, in my entire life, imagined I could be happy on land," Kathryn explained. "From the time I could walk, my head was in the stars. There wasn't another option for me. I was engaged when our mission first began, you know. And I loved Mark deeply. But too much time on Earth and I was ready to get back into space. I craved it more than food. More than _coffee._ But… after some time alone with Chakotay in our private paradise, there was nowhere else I wanted to be but with my feet on the ground, right next to him. I couldn't imagine going back to _Voyager_ or Starfleet or anywhere that wasn't just the two of us. We truly became one while we were on New Earth, in every sense. I had always loved him, of course. How could I not? He had me from hello. Well, perhaps not from hello... I was sent to capture him, after all. But I remember thinking as I was reading our intelligence file on him, '_How did such a cute man cause _so_ much trouble?'_," she smirked."His passion consumed me from the beginning. I am so amazed at how far we've both come over the course of our voyage…" she trailed off into thought.

"You guys are very lucky," Bones said.

Kathryn scoffed. "I suppose..."

"Of course you are! People travel across galaxies and never find the person who completes them. And think of all the things that had to come together to arrange your meeting. All the little, meaningless decisions along the way that paved your road to intercept his. You were always supposed to end up here," McCoy said authoritatively. "After all, if you weren't exactly where you were a few days ago, all that would have been left of the _Enterprise_ would have been a bucket of bolts! We weren't going to make it out of that wormhole alive! That damn green-blooded Vulcan had no answers and Jim was sweating like he only does when we're all about to be blown to hell! I mean, I realize I am being more than a tad self-involved here, but if that doesn't prove that this was all meant to be… I don't know what else to tell you!"

Kathryn smiled and yawned.

"All right, Captain. Get some shut-eye. Doctor's orders!" he demanded as he rose out of his chair and headed for the door. "Do not emerge from these quarters until you hear the rooster crowing."

"You win, Doctor," Kathryn said throwing up her arms in defeat. She could barely keep her eyes open. It had been almost forty-eight hours since she had slept. And almost two weeks since she had had a full night's rest; she was ready.

"Sleep snug as a bug in a rug," McCoy said, rising to his feet and offering a hand to help her up.

Kathryn smiled. "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"Holy space termites! Don't toy with me now, Captain. I have had my fill of freaky space insects, so I'm throwing in the towel on this one. Now I got to go sleep on the _Enterprise_..." McCoy said, continuing to mutter as he left her quarters.

She grinned after him and turned to go to bed.

* * *

><p>Chakotay, Kirk, and Spock sat patiently and listened to the story of the Resistance; and their plead for help.<p>

The Bilstreecans had been visited a millennia ago by a "god" who came to Bilstreeca, their home planet, and shared with them technology thousands of years ahead of their development. It allowed them to travel at speeds still unimaginable to the most advanced within the Federation: they could go _beyond_ transwarp. But as a result, the Bilstreecans never developed on their own. They were like children; curious, innocent, and easily influenced, still waiting for their god to return to the planet.

About six years ago, a group of Bilstreecan explorers had used the technology to travel a great distance and they had stumbled upon the Kazons. The small group had been fascinated by their desire for violence and struggles for power; problems which had never arisen on Bilstreeca before. Bilstreeca had never seen civil war, and being the only inhabitable planet in their galaxy, they had never had to defend their planet against invasions of any kind. The idea of taking what did not belong to them was a foreign concept… before the overly curious Bilstreecans sat and listened to the Kazons tell their story.

Four of the Kazons requested to accompany the group back to their planet, and the Bilstreecans naïvely agreed. Since their arrival, the Kazons have been corrupting their government at every level. By the time enough Bilstreecans had organized and decided to do something about it, the Kazons had formed an army of followers, and demanded the Bilstreecans build a military base on the barren planet they were on now.

Even as they spoke, the Kazons were shipping weapons and soldiers back to Bilstreeca on small cargo shuttles. They were headed back to Bilstreeca for a final military take-over.

The Kazons had also used the technology to track Janeway. They were obsessed with revenge. They demanded the military base be built on a planet directly in the path Janeway was on, so when she arrived, the Kazons could finally use the advanced technology and defeat her. That was the sole reason they chose this desert planet. Most of Bilstreeca was terrified of Captain Janeway and the crew of the infamous _Voyager_, since the Kazons had built them up to be monsters and had been telling tall tales for years.

However, a long time ago the leaders of the Resistance decided that an enemy of one's enemy is one's friend. And since they were no longer the most powerful faction on Bilstreeca, or never had been the most powerful faction – they needed _Voyager_'s help. Bilstreeca had been overpowered easily by the Kazons – listening and hanging onto every word and every lie the Kazons spread. The Resistance prepared themselves for the day Janeway's path to the Alpha Quadrant would finally lead her here; she would defeat the Kazons and allow the Bilstreecans their peaceful planet back.

Kirk had given Leerig his full attention, politely nodding along, and offering condolences at the causalities the Resistance had suffered and the great loss his people had already endured. Five leaders of the Resistance who were posing as officials of the Kazons' army, who had been decoding information and sending it to the Resistance, had been discovered and executed but two days before their arrival.

Chakotay, however, sat back silently, thinking about the events that Captain Kirk knew nothing about. To Kirk, this was a simple matter of the Prime Directive. Here was an alien species requesting their help in a war. It was black and white. Of course they couldn't get involved. But, for Chakotay, it was fifty shades of gray. It was _Voyager_'s interference and violation of the Prime Directive to save the Ocampa in the first place that had sent the Kazons on this rampage.

"Leerig, I sympathize with your predicament," Captain Kirk started, about to gently deny Leerig's request for help. "But, unfortunately, we –"

"We need to return to _Voyager_ and discuss this with Captain Janeway," Chakotay interrupted. "We don't have the authority to make the decision one way or the other."

Kirk glanced over at Chakotay but remained silent; he recognized that this struggle with the Kazons was _Voyager_'s story. Not the _Enterprise_'s.

Leerig nodded. "We understand. We have no intention of holding you captive here at Beelik or on this planet. Your decision to assist our efforts is wholly up to you – otherwise we would be no superior to the Kazons we are endeavoring to defeat."

"In twenty minutes, another generator is going to explode at the main plant," Ireekal informed them. "The dampening field will be disrupted and you will be able to summon _Voyager_. The Kazons are awaiting another battle ship to arrive from Bilstreeca, but right now, they are trapped with nothing but cargo shuttles. They _will_ fire back at _Voyager_, but they will be unable to pursue in anything other than cargo shuttles. If you choose not to assist us, we recommend you put as much distance as possible between yourselves and this planet. We have downloaded everything you need to know about the specifications of our ships and our weaponry here," she said, handing a small silver disk over to Chakotay. "If you make the modifications we have listed here, and attach this disk to your deflector shields, the Kazon will be unable to follow you. You will be safe."

Turning to look at Captain Kirk she whispered, "Good luck, Captain James Kirk." Her voice cracked again when she said his name.

* * *

><p><em>She was was standing in the transporter room, waiting for him to return. Any moment his voice would come over the intercom, requesting to be beamed up. Any moment. She tried to hide her giddiness from the ensign assigned to transporter room two. Her insides were vibrating with excitement. <em>

_Finally, they heard his voice and within seconds she watched every molecule of him, every beautiful molecule, materialize before her. Like she had rubbed a lamp and a genie had granted her wish. He stepped off the transporter pad and moved towards her, not acknowledging the ensign at the console. He put his hands on her cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss and her whole body melted. He reached down and lifted her up. She locked her legs around his torso and he carried her out of the transporter room, leaving the ensign behind and bewildered. _

Tonight she didn't wake up in a panic as the dream got to steamy part. Instead a smile crept across her face as she curled up and hugged her pillow amorously. This time she allowed the dream to wash over her and consume her.

It was, rather, Harry's voice who interrupted her sleep. _"Bridge to the Captain. We're being hailed," _Harry said. _"It's the Away Team!"_

Janeway jolted up in her bed.

"Patch him through, Ensign," she said excitedly as she got out of bed and stood to her feet, heading to change into her uniform. "On the intercom."

_"Chakotay to _Voyager_,"_ Chakotay called over a crackly connection. _"Can you hear me?"_

"Loud and clear, Commander," Janeway replied anxiously.

_"We have Captain Kirk. Not a scratch on him. We're heading back to the rendezvous point now, ready for transport."_

"We're on our way, Chakotay." Janeway paused. "Good work down there." It felt as if a thousand pounds had been lifted from her chest.

_"Thank you, Captain,"_ Chakotay replied before the comm-signal crackled and ended.

Janeway pulled on her black boots in a hurry. "Tom, get back to the _Delta Flyer_," she ordered through the intercom. "You will have a better chance at maneuvering away from the inevitable phaser fire than _Voyager_ will with the _Enterprise_ still in tow. We can't risk damaging the _Enterprise_ any further."

_"Aye-aye, Captain."_

"And take Harry with you this time."

_"Aye-aye, Captain,"_ Tom replied.

"I'll be right there," Janeway said, rushing hurriedly out the door, almost giddy to see Chakotay again.

Leerig and Ireekal had led the Starfleet officers to a small alcove just a few meters from where Spock and Chakotay had originally beamed down – in the middle of nowhere. Now they were hidden from view. Kirk scanned the area: completely barren except for a few dry desert bushes. The skyline of the metropolis looked almost majestic from this far away.

The Bilstreecans had returned the phasers, tricorders, and communicators that had been confiscated at the Beelik prison, and had promised to wait until their ship was in transport range before leaving them, just in case.

Kirk opened his mouth to offer thanks, again, to the strangers who were responsible for their rescue, but he was cut off by an explosion just a few meters away from the desert alcove.

"The army has detected us," Ireekal said, straightening and pulling out her phaser. Spock pulled out his tricorder.

"They're approaching from the east," Spock said, pointing to the distance. "Approximately two hundred meters away." Another explosion; this one shattering a boulder just above them. The army was firing blindly into the air, but they were getting dangerously close. The five of them pressed themselves against the wall of the alcove to avoid the falling rock debris.

Leerig and Ireekal prepared for the attack, kneeling behind the rocks with their phasers armed and pointed at the east.

"Return to your lair," Chakotay demanded them. "You are indispensable to the Resistance. Our ship will be arriving any minute; we can hold them off until then."

"Their weapons are more sophisticated than yours," Leerig responded, not moving from his post. "We will stay and fight."

"Go! Now!" Chakotay said, pulling Leerig to his feet.

Kirk followed suit. He bent down and whispered in Ireekal's ear, assuring her they'd be all right, and then he took her arm and led her back to the entrance of the tunnel.

"As soon as you are through, we will blast the rock and cover the entrance," Chakotay told them. "Go. Now. We have no intention of becoming martyrs. We will be fine. Go!" He pushed Leerig through. Kirk could hear the army's cries ever-so-faintly from the distance, but growing. They were coming on foot. The two Bilstreecans conceded uncertainly and rushed through the tunnel until they had put enough distance between themselves and the opening so they would be clear of the falling rock.

Captain Kirk gave Ireekal a small wave and he smiled assuredly. Then Chakotay blasted the rock and they were gone. The attention of the Away Team turned to the approaching army.

They were almost within range.

"Phasers set to stun," Kirk ordered. "Spread shot. Take down the front line."

The three stood behind the rocks, steeling themselves to take on the army. As soon as the soldiers came into range the Away Team fired – and the first line of Kazon-led Bilstreecans fell to the ground. They struggled to get back up their feet. Their phasers on spread-shot didn't offer much force.

"Chakotay to The _Delta Flyer_," Chakotay said anxiously, tapping his comm-badge, continuing to fire on the troops. "We're ready whenever you are, Lieutenant Paris." Kirk smiled at the Commander's strained levity.

_"We're almost within range,"_ Tom replied.

The army was growing closer and Kirk felt his muscles tighten. "Adjust your phasers; start taking them down one-by-one."

They were fully in visual range now. There were over a hundred soldiers. All armed with weapons. There was no way they would be able to hold them off, but they had to try. _Any minute would be great, _Voyager_..._ Kirk thought.

Another explosion hit – this time directly upon them. Kirk's whole body cringed as he heard a scream of pain and his eyes closed as the blast sent him flying back against the stone wall, knocking the wind out of him. He continued firing blindly at the army.

The dust cleared and he strained his eyes to find the source of the scream. Spock remained in position but Chakotay was on the ground, his chest torn open and bleeding, still firing his weapon with one hand at the oncoming Bilstreecans.

"Commander!" Kirk yelled, rushing to his side.

Blood had already soaked through his uniform and his open and scorched flesh was exposed. Kirk instinctively pressed down all of his weight on the wound to try and keep Chakotay from bleeding out. Chakotay tried to speak but his mouth filled with blood and Kirk felt himself losing composure and slipping into panic, one hand on the wound and the other firing his phaser. The army was now one hundred meters away.

"Commander, keep firing!" Kirk shouted over the blasts. He set his phaser down and pulled out his communicator and tried to hail the _Delta Flyer_ to no avail. Just static. "Dammit," he said through clenched teeth, placing his communicator on Chakotay's body and ripping the comm-badge from Chakotay's uniform. "Kirk to The _Delta Flyer_," he shouted at the sky. "We need… to transport… NOW!"

_"We're en route, Captain,"_ Tom repeated.

"NOW!" Kirk shouted back, tossing the comm-badge and picking up his weapon again. Chakotay was still silently firing but he couldn't hold up his arm anymore and Kirk saw him fading away. "Hold on, Tattoo," he demanded, pressing his weight against the wound. "Your captain needs you, remember? Hold on."

"Captain… please tell Kathryn… that… that…" he trailed off and his head rolled to the side.

Kirk looked up at Spock, worried. The space between them and the army was diminishing by the second. They were firing frantically. Chakotay dropped his weapon and his eyes closed.

"No, Chakotay! Open your eyes," Kirk yelled, shaking his body, but keeping his eyes glued on the stampede of bodies. Suddenly his phaser stopped firing. He grabbed for Chakotay's phaser. Nothing. "Spock?! What's happening?!"

Spock had already replaced his phaser with his tricorder. "It would appear the Bilstreecans were able to deactivate our weapons," he said with the evenness only a Vulcan could muster.

"Can you use one of our phasers to create a scrambling field?"

"Negative, Captain. Their sphere of control is too expansive."

The army was less than thirty meters away.

Captain Kirk, once again, grabbed the comm-badge in a final effort to convey the urgency of their situation to the crew on the _Delta Flyer_.

"Now, Lieutenant Paris! Beam… us… up! Bea-" and in a swirl of blue lights they were gone.

* * *

><p>Tom and Harry looked over their shoulders as the Away Team materialized aboard. Spock was holding his tricorder, hunched up, shielding his head with his hand. Kirk was straddling an unconscious Chakotay, one hand on Chakotay's chest and the other cupping the small comm-badge. He was still yelling into it, demanding Tom beam them up. They were all covered in dirt and Kirk's golden uniform was red with Chakotay's blood.<p>

Tom instantly jumped up from the helm and ran to grab the _Flyer_'s medical supplies. "Harry, take the helm!" he shouted and Harry slid over. The _Delta Flyer_ had already taken heavy damage on their way in and was rattling.

Tom grabbed everything he could carry and ran back to Chakotay. Kirk had stopped shouting at the comm-badge, but hadn't moved his hand from Chakotay's chest.

"It's okay, Captain," Tom assured, "I can handle this."

Kirk, shaken, rose to his feet and gave Tom room to work. The _Delta Flyer_ rocked as the planet continued firing at them. They were almost out of their space – Harry just had to keep the ship steady a little longer.

A violent blast hit the _Flyer_ and they fell against the wall. The security console started smoking. Spock instinctively moved towards it, but he had no way of knowing how to repair the 24th century technology. Kirk moved towards the helm but he was equally helpless on this futuristic, foreign ship.

Janeway had given Tom explicit orders not to, under any circumstances, allow the _Enterprise_'s crew access to the Flyer's technology. But as the ship's shields were fading quicker than the ship was moving and the phaser blasts were becoming more and more fierce against the hull, Tom didn't see much of a choice. He couldn't act as medic and fly the ship at the same time.

Kirk looked like a volcano about to erupt, completely powerless to save his team. Spock was trying to make sense of the readings, "Shields are at 35%," he reported gravely.

"Tom, the planet has released eleven cargo shuttles. They are in pursuit," Harry yelled, trying to keep the Flyer steady. "They are in pursuit, and they are loading weapons."

"Don't destroy them," Kirk ordered. "Disable them. Do not destroy them."

Nothing like adding challenge to a challenge. If Tom didn't organize them, they weren't going to make it back to _Voyager_ at all. A wave of calm rushed over Tom and he straightened, inhaling deeply, ready to take command. Chakotay's pulse had grown faint and he was losing blood and he was losing time.

"Commander Spock," Tom demanded. "Take this dermal regenerator. Hold it over the burns like this," he demonstrated, "until there is no evidence of a wound. Then give him _two_ shots of this hydrodexotrin. We'll try to wake him up."

Spock dutifully complied and took the regenerator.

Tom moved from Chakotay to the weapons console. "Captain Kirk, this button fires our phasers. Here is the _Delta Flyer_," he said, pointing to the monitor, "here are the shuttles. Don't worry about anything other than the phasers. We have limited weapons and there are eleven shuttles, so only fire if you have a clear shot." He turned around to Harry. "Back into the co-pilot's seat. I'm getting us home."

He confidently sat back down, ready to captain his ship. He didn't remember a time when his mind was so clear.

* * *

><p>"The <em>Delta Flyer<em> is coming into range, followed by eleven small cargo shuttles," Tuvok informed Janeway. "They are interchanging phaser fire."

"Are they in the range of our phasers?" Janeway asked.

"Negative, however they are approaching us rapidly. They will be within range in 4.57 minutes. Captain, the _Delta Flyer_ seems to be taking great care to only disable the cargo shuttles; not destroy them," Tuvok added.

_Strange, _Janeway thought. Perhaps the persons aboard the shuttles were part of the "Eight" secretly protecting the Away Team. From the looks of the Flyer, however, they weren't doing a great job.

_Voyager_ was moving away from the planet at warp three, with the _Enterprise_ in tow, expecting to rendezvous with the _Delta Flyer_ on the same course so _Voyager_ could jump to maximum warp as soon as the Flyer was on board.

"Should we reverse course, Captain?" Tuvok asked.

"No," Janeway said, hesitantly. "Keep our present trajectory, just reduce speed."

_Come on, Tom, hurry up, _she pleaded.

"The moment they come into range, shoot down the shuttles. Disable them, don't destroy them," she demanded, adhering to the actions of the Away Team.

"Firing phasers now," Tuvok informed.

With ease, perhaps with too much ease, _Voyager_ and the _Delta Flyer_ disabled the enemy shuttles. Within minutes, all but one of the vessels were dead in the water, still in tact.

The last one was skillfully dodging the phaser fire from both _Voyager_ and the _Delta Flyer_, quickly gaining speed. It soon flew past the Flyer. It seemed to be on a collision course with, not _Voyager_, but the _Enterprise_. Janeway watched perplexed. The _Enterprise_ had repaired all damage to the shields. The tiny cargo shuttle colliding with the massive ship wouldn't even send a tremor through it.

The _Enterprise_ must have noticed the kamikaze shuttle because it opened fire as well. Three ships were firing at the small cargo shuttle and it seemed to instinctively move before each shot was fired. _How is it doing that? _Janeway thought.

It was almost to the hull of the _Enterprise_ when it exploded. Janeway was bewildered.

"Did we hit it?"

"Negative, Captain," Tuvok answered. "It must have been the _Enterprise_ or the _Delta Flyer_." It didn't really matter, one way or the other. They were in the clear.

"Hail the _Delta Flyer_," Janeway demanded.

"Paris to _Voyager_," Tom yelled through the static-y connection. "Paris to _Voyager_."

"We read you, Tom," Janeway said, finally able to breathe; she almost had her First Officer back.

"Prepare for an immediate site-to-site transport," Tom shouted frantically over the intercom. "Chakotay is badly injured. He's not breathing and he doesn't have a pulse. We need to get him to Sick Bay."

Janeway's breath caught in her throat and her heart crashed to the floor. She looked at McCoy, who headed straight for the Turbolift on his way to Sick Bay. McCoy being contaminated with 24th century technology no longer seemed as dire a problem as it did before.

"We're ready to receive you, Tom," she replied evenly.

"I can't land the Flyer, I'm losing control," Tom shouted. "You need to tractor us in."

"Understood, Lieutenant. Paris," Janeway said. "Prepare to be tractored." She wasn't sure she could move without throwing up so she called to the helm from where she was, "The moment the bay doors close, jump to maximum warp on the trajectory we already plotted."

"Yes, Captain," the ensign replied, bracing herself to immediately jump to warp.

The Bridge crew felt a slight tremor as _Voyager_ latched onto the damaged _Flyer_ and the bay doors shut. The ensign jumped to maximum warp and everyone held on to something to keep from stumbling.

"Tuvok, you have the Bridge," Janeway said, turning to him. She took a breath and gathered herself to move towards the Turbolift. "I am going to go meet the Away Team."

"Yes, Captain," Tuvok said, moving from behind his console to the captain's chair.

As soon as the Turbolift doors shut and she was out of sight, Kathryn doubled over. She grabbed onto the railing with one hand and her stomach with the other.

_Please, Chakotay, please, _she silently begged. _I can't do this without you. Please don't leave me here alone. _

The Turbolift doors opened and she regained composure, straightened her uniform, and walked briskly to Sick Bay.

By the time she made it there, all of the Away Team were already gathered. Captain Kirk was physically holding Dr. McCoy back, telling him not to get in the way, assuring him that _Voyager_'s doctor knew what he was doing. Spock stood in the back with Harry, their eyes glued to the commander's lifeless body. Kirk, Spock, and Tom were all covered in blood. She didn't know if it was theirs or Chakotay's. The Doctor had given Chakotay another hypo-spray and Tom charged the cortical stimulator again.

Chakotay was gone.

They were trying to revive him, but he was gone. Kathryn rested a hand on one of the tables and fought back her tears. Suddenly Chakotay, her strong and larger-than-life First Officer, looked so small and fragile. His body convulsed violently, but the monitor still read no pulse. The Doctor looked up and made eye contact with Kathryn, and then again with Tom. "One more time, Lieutenant Paris," the Doctor ordered.

Chakotay's body convulsed again, but the monitor still read no pulse. Kathryn felt her knees crumble and she put all her weight against the table.

The Doctor took a step back and set down the hypo-spray.

"No!" Kathryn shouted. "NO!" Her eyes welled up with tears. "Do it again, Doctor."

The Doctor just stood there and looked at her with sad, sympathetic eyes. Too much time had elapsed.

"That's an _order!_ Do it again! _Now!_" Janeway demanded.

The Doctor complied. "One more time, Lieutenant Paris," he repeated softly as he gave Chakotay another hypo-spray.

"Stand back," Tom said quietly, somberly.

Chakotay's body convulsed again, and every body in the room stopped breathing.

Then they heard the faint "beep, beep" of a pulse on the monitor. The green lines jolted and Kathryn stumbled. McCoy rushed to her side and took her arm to steady her, squeezing her hand. The Doctor ran his tricorder over Chakotay and his saddened demeanor didn't lighten. Not a muscle in the room moved.

"What's the matter, Doctor?" McCoy asked.

"Chakotay's heart is beating but there is no brain activity," the EMH stated. "I do not know if he is going to wake up."

* * *

><p>Kathryn had watched in horror as the Doctor had hooked Chakotay up to the stabilizer and left him there to treat the rest of the Away Team's minor burns and lacerations. She moved to him and slid her hands around his and silently begged him, again, to get up. <em>Wake up, Chakotay. Wake up. Get out of this bed. Now. <em>She begged over and over and over again, but the readings on the monitor remained stagnant. She wanted to stay in Sick Bay with him and coax him back to life – if he did die here, tonight, she didn't want him to die alone. But she needed to return to the Bridge and do her job. There were bigger problems than her and Chakotay.

_Chakotay, I have to go. I have to make sure we get out of here all right, so you and I can have the rest of our lives together. I have to go. Don't go anywhere, okay? Please don't go anywhere. I'll be back for you. I promised you once I would never leave you, and I never will. So please don't leave me now. _Her eyes welled.

"Captain?" McCoy asked softly, snapping her back into reality. She turned her clouded eyes from Chakotay and looked at the doctor. He moved towards Chakotay and took his other hand. "It's all right, I'll stay with him."

"You will?"

"I won't leave his side," McCoy assured. "I'm not going anywhere. He won't be alone."

Kathryn nodded gravely and focused every ounce of strength she had in her to move away from her First Officer and head back towards the door.

As the Sick Bay doors whooshed shut behind her she steeled herself for battle.

* * *

><p>"It is not our place to make that decision, Captain," Spock reminded Kirk.<p>

"Well, dammit Spock, I don't know what to do here," Kirk shot back in a violent whisper. They were alone in the Conference Room on the Bridge, waiting to meet with the crew of _Voyager_. Spock was sitting down, soberly watching his captain pace back and forth angrily.

He brought his hands together in front of him. "We must inform Captain Janeway what happened on the planet; that is what we must do."

"Why? They asked us to get involved in their war? I don't know Janeway all that well," Kirk admitted. What he did know, he had learned from Chakotay. And he knew how deep her commitment to Starfleet was. After all, she was willing to martyr herself to save to crew. "She would never violate the Prime Directive so directly, Spock. So why even bring it to her attention?"

"Because it is not our decision to make," Spock replied calmly.

"You're just being emotional," Kirk snapped. Spock swiveled his chair to meet Kirk's eyes and raised an eyebrow. "You're sympathetic to them. You're acting human!"

Spock was unstirred by the captain's low-blow accusations of emotion. "I hardly believe insults are in your prerogative as my commanding officer. It is not our decision to make," he repeated flatly. "It is not our battle. If she decides to ignore the request of the Bilstreecans, she has the right to do so."

"I just don't see why we need to add it to her plate right now," Kirk said, defeated. His heart ached for Janeway because he fully understood how hers was aching for Chakotay, who had died – was injured – on a mission to retrieve _him_.

Kirk suddenly understood the captain's rationale; if the relationship between _Voyager_'s commanding officers was affecting _his_ judgment... how could it not affect theirs?

Spock remained silent. Captain Kirk, of course, knew his First Officer was right. _As always, _Kirk thought. He needed to tell Janeway about the plead for assistance they received and the part _Voyager_, apparently, played in the Kazons' takeover. It was Janeway who had to make the decision.

In the meantime, they had only six days to make it back to the wormhole in time to return the _Enterprise_.

The doors beeped and the worn-out senior staff, led by a disheveled captain, stepped through the doors and took their places around the conference table. They were ready to be briefed about what the Away Team had discovered on the mysterious planet.

Captain Kirk cleared his throat and began.


	12. Chapter 11: The Kamikazee Shuttle

CHAPTER ELEVEN  
><em>The Kamikaze Shuttle<em>

"Zhee wessel eez headed straight for zhee Enterprise!" Chekov exclaimed.

Mr. Scott stood up from the Captain's chair; eyes fixed on the viewscreen. They were being pulled along by _Voyager_ like some kind of paralyzed dog on a leash. _Voyager_, and even their own captain, apparently wanted them to do nothing more than sit quietly, wait, and let the grown-ups handle it.

Which is exactly what they were doing.

And it was infuriating.

Captain Janeway had informed them not long ago of Captain Kirk's status: he was alive and en route back to _Voyager_ on the _Delta Flyer_. The rescue mission was successful and they were going to make it back to the wormhole with just barely enough time to spare. Everything was going as planned - kind of. But then the Bridge watched as the _Delta Flyer_ came into view, pursued by a number of tiny cargo shuttles. The same shuttles that were being mysteriously launched from the planet.

The two 24th-century ships had managed to shoot down all of them, save for one.

And that one was, inexplicably, on a suicidal collision course with the hull of the _Enterprise._

"Does the shuttle have some kind of detonation weapon on board?" Scotty asked.

"Negative, sir. It eez nothing more zhan a cargo wessel," Chekov replied, looking at his scanners.

"I guess we're going to have to shoot it down." His statement sounded more like a question than a command. There was nothing the shuttle could gain by colliding with the_ Enterprise_ – the collision wouldn't even diminish the shields... at all. The cargo shuttle was a pebble against a boulder.

The brave, miniscule vessel was, however, successfully maneuvering past the phaser fire of both _Voyager_ and the _Delta Flyer_.

"Arm phasers, Mr. Chekov," Scotty ordered. It was finally up to the flagship of the Federation to take care of business.

"Phasers armed," Chekov reported.

"Fire." The shuttle continued to zig-zag to safety. "Keep firing until you hit the damned thing, Mr. Chekov."

"Aye, Mr. Scott."

The crew watched the screen, baffled, as the shuttle seemed to anticipate every shot before it was fired. It was mere moments away from slamming into the_ Enterprise_.

"Brace for-" the shuttle exploded before Scotty was able to finish his sentence. "Bloody hell! Did we hit the thing?"

"Negative; it wasn't us. It must have been _Voyager_," Sulu said.

"Well, I guess we can all go back to sleep then," Scotty said with a frustrated chuckle as he took his seat.

"Mr. Scott," Uhura chimed excitedly. "Two unauthorized persons have beamed aboard; they are on deck six headed for the Turbolift!"

Scotty jumped up once again. He felt his heart swell a little at the prospect of a crisis. He pressed the intercom on the Captain's chair. "Security to deck six – we have two intruders. We don't know if they are armed."

"How could they have beamed past the shields?" Mr. Sulu asked.

"I have no clue, lad. But I intend to find out," Scotty replied as he headed for the Turbolift.


	13. Chapter 12: The Reset Trope

**CHAPTER TWELVE: **

**THE RESET TROPE**

"They lured us there with a distress call," McCoy explained. "And the moment we materialized on the planet, it was like we had been swept back in time to Ancient Greece. Seriously! You wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. The Platonians' leader, this son-of-a-bitch by the name of Parmen, had fallen ill and after I fixed the man, they decided they wanted me and were going to hold me captive! And did I mention that everyone on the planet, except for this little man named Alexander that they used as a slave, had telekinetic powers? So they quickly made escape for us impossible. We were no match for…"

_Voyager_'s Emergency Medical Hologram had been forced to listen to the _Enterprise_'s Dr. McCoy go on and on and on about nonsense while the rest of the senior officers had vanished to go discuss whatever it was that had left Chakotay laying on his bio-bed, an empty shell. Dr. McCoy hadn't ceased talking once during that time; even though he was just conversing with himself. He had discussed highlights from his medical career_, _he complained about the company of his "green-blooded" commanding officer, he had recited an Earth poem, and he was now explaining, in depth, their latest adventure aboard the _Enterprise. _That is, before they were sucked into the mouth of the wormhole, of course.

The Doctor set down his PADD and rubbed his temples in an attempt to quell the non-existant headache. He was growing increasingly agitated. He couldn't focus on his medical research with McCoy blabbering on like that. The EMH stepped up from the desk in his office and moved to confront the chatty, displaced, organic doctor.

"Dr. McCoy, please," the Doctor said, struggling to keep his irritation at bay. "Chakotay cannot hear what you are saying, so I do not know why you are attempting to engage him in idle conversation. I believe it would be more beneficial for all parties involved, if you were to wait here _quietly _and if… _when_ he wakes up, you may continue your one-sided conversation."

McCoy's eyes flared. "He needs someone to be here, talking to him and letting him know he's not alone. And until the Captain returns, I don't intend on letting him think he's alone."

"He cannot hear you. He does not know you are here. He has no brain activity," The Doctor insisted frigidly. "Sit here next to him if it is a comfort to _you_, but, please, for goodness sake, _remain silent_."

"Poppycock!" McCoy said, standing up from his post beside the bio-bed. "I'm sorry, but Dr… Dr…" McCoy tilted his head to the side and his indignation lighted a little."I'm sorry, Doctor, but I must have missed your name in all the fuss before. What's your name?"

"I do not have a name."

McCoy narrowed his eyes. "What do you _mean _you don't have a name?"

"I… do not… have… a _name_," the Doctor repeated, his voice dripping with annoyance. "I am secure enough in my own identity that I do not require one."

McCoy's mouth gaped in a moment of clarity. He took his thumb and forefinger and reached out to pinch the EMH.

"Are you some kind of android?!" he asked with aversion. The Doctor recoiled from the contact as if he had been touched by the phage itself.

He had been specifically ordered by Captain Janeway not to share the details of his composition with the doctor from the _Enterprise. _But the arrogance in Dr. McCoy's voice and his evident organic-superiority complex made the Doctor seethe.

"No, I am not an _android._ I am a hologram," he declared proudly.

"Are you trying to tell me that _Voyager _doesn't have an actual doctor aboard her?!" he barked at the hologram.

"On the contrary," the EMH said smugly. "_Voyager_ is equipped with the greatest asset to the medical field ever created."

"Ever programmed," McCoy corrected. "You're a 24th century walking and talking edition of Gray's Anatomy, nothing more. Certainly not a doctor! Is this what the 24th century is like; humankind putting all their trust in computers? I demand you release Chakotay into my care at once. I'll beam him aboard the _Enterprise _so he can be treated by _actual_ doctors!"

The Doctor folded his arms across his chest. "Commander Chakotay is _my _patient. And he is going to remain under my care; I shudder to think about what barbaric things your primitive staff would do to him. Probably rub his body in tree sap and dance around him, chanting and waving sticks. No; he is in need of a more advanced physician."

"A physician? You're not a physician; you're a machine! You can't feel intuition... or compassion – _compassion_: that's the one thing no machine ever had. Maybe it's the one thing that keeps men ahead of them. Transfer Chakotay to my Sick Bay."

"Chakotay doesn't need compassion; he needs my vast knowledge and superior expertise. Obviously something your small brain cannot comprehend!" the Doctor said, irritated. "I am the Chief Medical Officer aboard this ship, and I can and will confine you to the brig and relieve you of duty!"

"You have no authority over me, hologram! And I do not take orders from inanimate objects. I am taking Chakotay to the _Enterprise_ so he can be safe from you accidentally butchering him up when some water splashes on you and you short circuit!"

The Doctor glared at McCoy and took another step towards him, towering over the short-statured man. "I do not short-circuit! I'm a doctor, not a toaster!"

To the Doctor's surprise, McCoy's features suddenly softened and a wide smile crept across his face.

* * *

><p>After the briefing had ended, Seven of Nine and Ensign Kim returned to Astrometrics to continue their research on the anomaly. Ensign Kim had protested, wishing to stay behind to discuss further the Kazon conspiracy and takeover of Bilstreeca, but Seven demanded he join her.<p>

She had a strange sensation in her gut that she didn't understand, but it made her feel anxious. Like she was being pushed towards something she had no desire for. But the feeling in her gut was all-consuming, even while she was regenerating. Seven initially assumed one of her Borg implants was malfunctioning, but the Doctor assured her she was fine after she took a trip to Sick Bay the previous day.

The feeling hadn't left her gut since their first attempt at decoding the anomaly after the _Enterprise _had made a surprise stop in the Delta Quadrant, but the feeling intensified after hearing about the dire circumstances on Bilstreeca.

The feeling had kept her working busily, trying to figure out the meaning behind it. Even though everyone else, including Ensign Kim, had resolved that there was nothing more that could be learned about the anomaly or its effects on the _Enterprise, _Seven knew that they were missing something.

"Seven, c'mon," Harry drawled. "It's late. We know what we have to do to get the _Enterprise _back to their time-frame. Let's turn our research efforts to what is happening on Bilstreeca. Or, better yet, let's go to sleep."

"Ensign Kim," Seven said curtly, more curtly than usual. It was the nagging feeling in her stomach manifesting in her speech. "If you chose to not assist this research, that is fine. Please exit this room so that I may do so."

Harry looked at the door and sighed. That wasn't exactly the dismissal he was looking for, so he didn't stand from his chair. But he was so tired. His eyelids were heavy and he figured if he fell asleep right here on his console, at least Seven couldn't berate him for quitting.

"Sometimes I wish I could regenerate like you," Harry said. "Like… if I could just hit a button and then my mind would be reset. Wouldn't have to waste time sleeping, just _click _and your mind and body is right back to where it was before."

Seven looked over at Harry and remained expressionless, refraining from engaging him in a ridiculous conversation that would distract from their research. But then, as if his words contained some double-meaning that had just dawned on her, her eyes grew wide and she stood up.

"What is it, Seven?" he asked.

"I have become aware of what we were missing," Seven informed him, getting up and moving to a different console, typing rapidly. Harry curiously stood up to follow her and she pulled up the image on the giant screen. It was a map of the verteron emanations and chroniton cloud taken from the sensors on the _Enterprise. _

On her console, she pulled up an equation.

"Right there," Seven of Nine said, drawing a line around some numbers. "That is the information we were lacking."

Harry's jaw dropped as he processed what the ex-Borg was saying.

* * *

><p>Kathryn walked slowly back to Sick Bay to sit with Chakotay for the remainder of the night. <em>What am I going to do? <em>she asked herself with a heavy sigh. Kirk and Spock had just finished briefing her on what had happened on the surface of the planet. The one person she needed to talk to, to sort everything out with, was Chakotay.

She stood outside the entrance to Sick Bay for a moment and took a deep breath before she entered. She needed to be strong for Chakotay and for her ship. She couldn't fall apart. _Besides, there is nothing to mourn. He is going to wake up, _she assured herself. The doors swooshed open and she entered the darkened room.

McCoy was sitting next to Chakotay's bio-bed, chatting away. She scanned the room for the Doctor, but she didn't see him. As she stepped further inside, she caught McCoy's attention and he stood up to greet her.

"He's all right, Kathryn," Bones assured, moving towards her. "No changes, but he's stable."

She nodded somberly, slipping her fingers around Chakotay's lifeless hand, searching his face for any sign of consciousness.

_Get up, Chakotay, _she beseeched him. _Get up. Right now. That's an order. _Nothing. She sighed.

"Where is… the _other _doctor?" Kathryn asked carefully, her focus returning to her surroundings.

"He deactivated himself," McCoy replied simply. "It was 'bout damn time, too," he muttered under his breath.

Kathryn took her empty hand and placed it on her hips. "He did _what_?" she asked in disbelief.

"It's okay, Captain, I know he's a hologram," he informed her nonchalantly.

"And you're… fine with that?"

McCoy shrugged. "No... but it seems we understand each other."

"_You're_ afraid of the transporter," Kathryn said, her eyes wandering back to her First Officer.

"I signed aboard the _Enterprise _to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by that gadget!" he exclaimed dramatically, trying to elicit a laugh from the Captain. She just smiled as she looked back up from Chakotay's hand to meet Dr. McCoy's gaze. "Listen, Captain, I'm going to leave you alone with him now. The hologram programmed the security around Sick Bay to not allow any unauthorized intruders for the night..." He chose his next words carefully, "So you'll be alone and uninterrupted with Chakotay."

Kathryn felt a rise of emotion within her. "That… was very thoughtful of the Doctor."

"Well, maybe he is capable of compassion after-all; I don't know, I suppose anything's possible…" McCoy trailed off into his own thoughts as he headed for the door. He turned around to look at her again. "Good night, Captain. If you need… If I can... Well, I'm not going to be leaving _Voyager _tonight. I mean, with your permission, of course. I know I'm not really supposed to be here, and I'm not officially his doctor, or yours, but, if you need anything… or want to talk, I'm here."

Kathryn gasped and her heart momentarily stopped beating. Her eyes grew wide; the room seemed to freeze in time around her. A flash of memory overtook her cerebrum.

She remembered why Dr. McCoy seemed so familiar.

The year was 2358; twenty years ago, the most painful year of her life to date.

_He was older; much older, definitely over one hundred years old. But it was definitely him. She had never seen him before. Maybe a cursory glance at his face in a textbook program or in an article; his picture was somewhere inside the halls of Starfleet Command, but she had never paid attention. She didn't recognize him now. _

_He was standing next to Justin, her fiancé, holding his hand. He was clearly a doctor at Starfleet Medical, but he wasn't Justin's doctor. Or her father's. Perhaps he simply knew Justin; Justin had this uncanny knack for making friends wherever he went. _

_Kathryn stepped into the room. Justin's monitor beeped faintly. It was time. He was dead the moment the _Terra Nova _crashed, but Starfleet's doctors had done everything they could to bring him back. _

_Kathryn had just hours ago said good-bye to her father, and now they had instructed her to come say good-bye to Justin, too. _

_The older version of McCoy looked up at her as she walked in, and his mouth gaped in surprise, or shock; she didn't know. He regained control and looked at her sadly, moving away from Justin's bedside. _

_"Kathryn…" he started. The doctor looked lost for words. _

_"I'm sorry, do I know you?"_

_"No. I've just been expecting you. He doesn't have much time left, but I think he's been holding on. Waiting for you." _

_Kathryn nodded solemnly and approached the bed, cringing at the sight of Justin's body. She wrapped her hand around his, searching for the right words. None came. She felt numb; she didn't feel sadness, or remorse, or fear. She felt nothing. That alone should have scared her, but it didn't. It was almost as if she were watching this horrific day play out from a place outside her body. _

_"I love you, Justin," she finally forced out, her voice breaking. "And the crash... the crash, it wasn't your fault. You need to know that. I love you. I love you so much." _

_She stroked his cheek and listened as his pulse slowly faded, and ultimately stopped. She continued staring at him, his hand still in hers, desperately trying to make sense of what was happening. _

_The old doctor – the old McCoy never left her side. He gently extricated her hand from Justin's and led her away from the body, but she came crashing to her knees, overcome with emotions. This younger Kathryn didn't have years of practice burying her feelings; tonight, they were raw and on the surface. The grief over the loss of her father had consumed her mother and her sister, and Kathryn had been left to say good-bye to Justin on her own. Her body convulsed with sobs as she freely cried in the middle of the hospital room floor, terrified that, once flowing, her tears would never cease._

_The old McCoy struggled to the ground next to her, his bones cracking along the way. He sat down on the floor with her and wrapped his surprisingly strong arms around Kathryn's convulsing body. She clung to him, burying her face in his shoulder and continued to weep. The doctor stroked her hair and held her tightly, patiently letting the storm path. _

_At the time, it never even occurred to her that he was a stranger. She just needed to cry. And she needed to be held. _

_"It's okay, Kathryn," he soothed. She looked up at his face and saw tears streaming down his own cheeks. _He must have known Justin_, she decided. The old McCoy wiped the young Kathryn's face. "I'm not officially his doctor, or yours, but, if you need anything… or want to talk, I'm here."_

_Without thought, Kathryn leaned back and began to talk. Looking back, she couldn't remember what was said. But she remembered the old McCoy holding her hand, listening to her through her sobs. _

_After an hour, or two, or possibly more, Kathryn calmed and stood up. She helped the older man to his feet, and he gave her a tight smile and brushed the hair out of her face, an oddly intimate gesture. But, then again, she had just drenched his shirt with her tears. _

_"Thank you, doctor," Kathryn said. She was so overwhelmed that she hadn't had the presence of mind to ask how he knew Justin, or even to look down at his ID badge. _

_"Of course, Kathryn," he said softly, looking deeply into her eyes. "It _will _get better. Wounds like these never go away; they leave scars. But they do heal." He took her hand in his again. "This isn't the end of your story." _

_She nodded and left to return home, leaving the mystery doctor and her fiancé's body behind. _

_Months later, Kathryn had returned to Starfleet Medical to thank the doctor for what he did for her that day, but she couldn't find him. No one knew who she was talking about; how would they? All she knew was that he was old and male. That described a good portion of Starfleet Medical; whose total staff throughout the Federation reached into the tens of thousands. _

_She had resigned that he was just a kind man who had seen hurt and tried to alleviate it. For a while she kept him at the forefront of her mind, hoping to one day run across him on an assignment or on the streets of San Francisco, but the memory grew fuzzy over the years. Soon she couldn't even remember his face._

"Captain?" McCoy asked, snapping her out of her trance. Kathryn looked at him with a new appreciation, overwhelmed by emotion. Gratitude, wonder – did that McCoy remember her? From right now? Was it possible? Or was it one of the universe's amazing coincidences; was he just there, the same caring doctor then as he was now, looking indiscriminately after the broken? Perhaps she would never know.

Kathryn walked over to him and struggled to form words. She couldn't distort the timeline; she couldn't thank him for what he would one day do for her. She looked into his eyes, searching for the words. She placed her hands on his forearms and slowly drew him in for a hug, clutching onto him as tightly as she had that fateful night, twenty years ago.

McCoy was unprepared for such an intimate response and sudden show of affection. He gently wrapped his arms around her and his hand awkwardly rubbed her shoulder. She tightened her hold and buried her head in his neck and he felt his heart melt inside of him. For all his talk of love and romance... he was just as alone as she was. Even more so.

Kathryn broke the embrace and swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "Thank you," she choked, forcing the mask of command back on her face. It was what she had wanted to tell him for two decades. One day, about ninety years from now, maybe he would remember.

He nodded his good-bye and continued out the door. She wasn't sure where on _Voyager _he planned on staying tonight, but she felt better with him on the ship.

Her attention turned again to Chakotay and she walked back over to him. _I need to talk to you- _

"I guess I can speak out loud now, can't I?" she said, observing the empty room.

His machine continued to beep. There were a few wires and things attached to him, but the Doctor hadn't needed to use the full-body stabilizer. So his body was exposed and he was just laying there, utterly vulnerable. She scooted herself onto the bio-bed and sat next to him, cradling his hand in hers.

"I need to talk to you about the Bilstreecans. I believe we're obligated to assist them... We are, indirectly, responsible. But I don't know if I'm willing to go to war and destroy _Voyager _in the process, on a cause which is essentially a lost one... You saw the technology they have. It might just be four Kazons... but whatever species left that kind of technology on Bilstreeca is hundreds of years more advanced than we are. We barely damaged that initial ship, Chakotay... I don't know what to do. I need you to wake up so we can discuss this."

She got up from the bio-bed and began to pace back and forth around it. "Obviously, priority number one is getting the _Enterprise _back. Everything is moot if we fail at sending them through the wormhole. If the _Enterprise _is lost, we probably would never have ended up in the Delta Quadrant. Which would solve the problems on Bilstreeca, I suppose, but, Chakotay," she paused and grasped his hand again, "I wouldn't reverse these six years for anything." The assuredness in her voice shocked her; she had spent so many nights laying awake thinking about the decision to destroy that array.

"Do you hear me, Chakotay? I wouldn't turn back time for anything. I value every moment I've had with you. With _Voyager._ But it's not over; it's far from over; it's just beginning. And I can't do it without you. It's not even an option. So wake up," she pressed.

Kathryn ran her hands over his chest, over his arms, along the lines of his tattoo, unsure of how to awaken him. She cupped his cheek in her palm and she felt the sting of tears but she blinked them back.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," she whispered desperately. She leaned in and pressed her lips softly against his. He remained motionless and she finally lost control of her tears. "You've... been waiting... a long time for that... you know," she whispered in between silent sobs. "I'll tell you all about it... when you wake up... okay?"

The weight of the day suddenly came crashing down upon her and her muscles grew weak. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she took off her boots and curled herself up beside him, tears still silently streaming down her face, her head resting on his shoulder, and her arm wrapped protectively across his chest. She pressed her body as close to his as possible, pulled the blanket up around them, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"I need something to drink," Bones stated. "You know these damned space explorers don't have a drop of alcohol aboard this godforsaken ship?"<p>

"Doctor, you're not a drinker," Kirk murmured with no emotion, not looking up from his PADD. They had remained in the Conference Room on the Bridge after the briefing had ended. Captain Kirk and Spock had been quietly analyzing and re-analyzing their mountain of information while the crew of _Voyager _continued on their course to the find the wormhole. They now had only five days before it would appear; the exact amount of time they needed to get there. Their previous three-day cushion was consumed by the battle, the kidnapping, and the rescue.

"I wasn't a drinker before…" McCoy replied absently, to no one in particular. Neither Kirk nor Spock were listening to him, anyway. He had come here after leaving Captain Janeway alone with Chakotay for the night. He didn't want to go back to the _Enterprise _in case something happened, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to fall asleep either. He was well-aware that he was interrupting the Captain and Spock's silent research, but… he didn't care.

"Everything will be _fine, _Bones," Kirk assured, finally looking up. "We've been through worse."

"You have some kind of crystal ball I don't know about, Jim?"

"Doctor, doctor, relax. We're _fine _– this is just a little hiccup." Kirk leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms, letting them come together and rest on his chest. "Where do you suppose Starfleet thinks we've gone?"

McCoy scoffed. "Probably just assume you've gone AWOL again. They're probably not too troubled about it, honestly… And it's not like we have families to worry about."

"That's because we are each others' family," Kirk said thoughtfully, looking at Spock, who had stopped reading his PADD and was staring silently out the window. "Spock?"

"I believe something negative is about to occur," Spock replied.

"Oh?" McCoy asked quizzically. "And you wouldn't call that a _feeling _would you now, Spock?"

"Everybody calm down," Kirk commanded with mock seriousness. "I don't know when my crew got replaced by a bunch of pessimists, but I demand you stop. That's an order."

"Pessimism is illogical, Captain. I have simply stated that, with the facts available—"

"Oh, shut up, you green-blooded hobgoblin," McCoy interrupted. "That's your human intuition speaking… And I feel it, too," he added quietly. "I just hope it's not Chakotay."

"How is Tattoo?" Kirk asked, straightening, concern flashing in his eyes.

"The next twenty-four hours are critical. If he doesn't wake up by then, the damage to his brain will be irreversible."

"He's going to wake up," Kirk assured.

McCoy raised his eyebrows. "Where the hell is this optimism coming from?"

"Optimism, might I remind you, is equally as illogical as pessimism. We must look at the facts, and then use logic to deduce the most plausible outcomes," Spock offered.

"Call it _intuition, _I guess," Kirk replied. "But I know everything is going to be all right." He sighed heavily. "It should have been me out there, Bones," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I should have been the one that was shot. Not Chakotay. He was there to rescue me."

"Jim," Spock said quietly, searching the face of his Captain, "it was you who saved the Commander's life. If you had not acted so quickly, he would not have made it off the planet alive."

Kirk shook his head and sighed. "Well, it's done." His tone indicated that the discussion was over and the rare insight into his psyche had ended. "But everything _will _be all right."

"Hmmph…" McCoy settled back into his chair, his mind searching for a topic to lighten the melancholy. "Speaking of intuition, did you guys know that _Voyager_'s doctor is a hologram?"

"I wondered why I found him preferable," Spock replied without missing a beat. "Much more efficient than trusting our health to a witch doctor."

Kirk smiled. Spock had once told McCoy that technology's only failing was that there was nothing immediately available to replace the ship's surgeon. Apparently the future had taken Spock's criticisms to heart.

The door to the conference room beeped and Tuvok entered stoically. "We have new information regarding the _Enterprise_'s re-entry into the wormhole," he stated with Vulcan coolness.

McCoy laid his head face-down on the table and Spock raised an eyebrow.

"A twist!" Kirk said to his officers, enthusiastically. "It's just another twist!"

* * *

><p><em>She was standing alone in a darkened room. She was somewhere on <em>Voyager, _that much she knew. She could feel the whirring of the ship and the vibrations of the warp core underneath her feet. She couldn't see a thing, but she pressed her hands against the walls, searching for the door panel. She couldn't find it. She was all alone and panic began to set in. _Where is everybody? _she screamed inside her head. Suddenly the lights flickered on and he was sitting in the corner. "Where were you?" she asked. _

_"I was always here," he replied, getting to his feet."I was never going to leave you."_

A male voice pulled her out of her slumber. She stirred against Chakotay's warm body.

"What, Chakotay...?" Kathryn asked sleepily, her eyes still closed. She snuggled closer to him. Then she remembered where she was and her eyes snapped open. "Chakotay?" she repeated, looking at him intently, expecting a response.

_"Bridge to Captain Janeway,"_ her comm-badge repeated. She sighed and lifted herself up onto her elbow.

"Janeway here."

_"You are needed on the Bridge, Captain."_

"On my way." She paused a moment to look at Chakotay, still sleeping peacefully. "I have to go, but I'm coming back. Don't try any funny business, okay?" she ordered him, trying to sound lighthearted but failing. "Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Holographic System."

The Doctor appeared and looked around. "Is Dr. McCoy gone?"

"Yes," Janeway replied, pulling on her boots.

"Thank goodness," he sighed.

"I have to go now, but thank you for... allowing me some time with him," she said, motioning to her First Officer.

"Of course," he replied softly. "It's 0300, what is the emergency?"

"I have no idea," she answered, heading towards the door. "But I have a feeling I'm not going to like it."

* * *

><p>Captain Janeway didn't remember a period in time when there had been so many back-to-back senior staff meetings. Here they were again, a few hours later, gathered around the conference table. The seat next to hers, however, was empty – but she was almost too tired to be disconcerted about it. Almost.<p>

She needed a cup of coffee. Badly.

"… therefore, upon the re-entry of the _Enterprise _into the conduit," Seven of Nine explained, "the influx of chroniton radiation will result in the original curvature of the space-time continuum; leaving the _Enterprise _replaced–-"

"What in the devil are you talking about, Miss?" McCoy asked, frustrated.

Harry stepped up to the plate, joining Seven by the display panel. "Basically, what we're saying is, re-entry into the wormhole will essentially reverse the effects it has had on the _Enterprise_. Meaning that… well… as soon as you go back through the vortex, it will be like you never did. Everything will return to the way it was before. The slate will be instantly wiped clean."

"So… we'll have no memory of ever having been here?" Kirk asked.

"Correct. Well, no. There'll be nothing to remember because it will have never happened in the first place," Harry tried to explain.

"We're hitting the 'reset button'!" McCoy said exasperated, shaking his head. "The audience isn't stupid enough to buy that," he glanced at Kirk for back-up. "That's almost as bad as finishing this story with 'It was all a dream…'"

Kirk nodded in agreement, lost in thought.

"It's not exactly a reset button, sir," Harry said diplomatically. "It's more like… when you go back, you'll be replacing your previous selves."

"What if we just get sucked back into the wormhole again?" Kirk asked. "If we'll be sent back to right where we were before all of this happened… well, right before all of this happened; we were being sucked into the wormhole! This is going to end up being some kind of endless time loop."

Harry nodded. "We thought of that, already. Seven has begun forming the compound the Borg use to close undesired wormholes laying in their path. We will inject it into the wormhole the moment that the _Enterprise _enters the conduit. After you reappear in the Alpha Quadrant, at the coordinates you were before, there will be no wormhole in front of you. You'll just… go on doing whatever you were doing."

"And us?" Neelix asked. "What will happen to us?"

"The same thing," Harry replied. "We'll be right back where we were, on course to the Alpha Quadrant, before the wormhole came up on our sensors. Everything will be the same as it was before."

_Chakotay will be all right, _Janeway thought, her eyes resting on the empty seat beside her. _If everything is wiped clean… he'll never have been injured. _She felt her heart rise in her chest.

"No. Absolutely not," Kirk said, standing to his feet. "There has to be another way… without losing our recollection of what happened here. We don't want to lose our experiences."

It was his turn to look at his fellow officers for back-up, but McCoy just looked down at his hands, and Spock said nothing.

"I don't see the alternative, Captain," Janeway said gently. "We need to get you back."

"And what happens when _Voyager _is reset? Hmm? You are still going to run into the Kazon... with or without our appearance here. And when you do... they'll destroy you. Like they would have the first time had the _Enterprise _not been there to save you."

"I have a bit more confidence in _Voyager_ than that, Captain," Janeway said, rising to her feet to meet his stare. Her voice had an air of danger to it, and she was daring him to argue. "As you are so fond of saying… _Voyager_, too, has been in much more… grim situations. We will be able to handle ourselves, especially since we won't have you to worry about. You, however, need to go _home." S_he allowed her voice to become soft again, "We need you to save the world a couple dozen more times," she said with a sympathetic smile.

Kirk looked down at Spock, and the Vulcan finally looked up to meet his eyes. Again, Janeway watched as some kind of secret transmission passed through them as Kirk's muscles loosened. "Very well, Captain," he acquiesced, hesitantly. "We'll comply."

"Good. Now, in the mean time, I don't want this information leaving this room. At least, for now. If the crew hears about this... situation, I'm worried that people might start to get..."

"Lazy," Kirk finished. "I agree. If they know that their actions are about to become... meaningless... Well, it's just better that we don't put it to the test."

Janeway nodded in agreement. His communicator beeped and he flipped the golden case open. "Kirk here."

_"Captain Kirk, this is Scotty. We have two stowaways aboard I think you'll be wantin' to meet."_

"On our way, Mr. Scott," Kirk said, returning his communicator to his belt. "Just another twist," he smiled.


	14. Chapter 13: A Good Pilot

CHAPTER THIRTEEN  
><em>A Good Pilot<em>

"Should I hail _Voyager_, Mr. Scott?" Uhura asked eagerly as Scotty headed to the Turbolift to go investigate whoever, or whatever, had beamed aboard their ship. Scotty paused before he reached the door and looked at the communications officer, considering her words.

_The Captain and Spock are still on the_ Flyer_… and if we contact Captain Janeway, she'll just take over, _Scotty thought, deciding on the appropriate course of action. Captain Kirk and Spock were still, technically, in the process of being rescued. That left Scotty in full command of the _Enterprise, _and he didn't have any desire to give up said command. _Should we contact Captain Janeway? _he asked himself. He really did genuinely like this Kathryn Janeway of _Voyager, _but he didn't want to hand over his ship to her. Besides, she was busy saving the lives of his command team.

"No, Lieutenant Uhura. We'll wait until the Captain is back on board _Voyager_ and let _him _decide what to do with 'em." She nodded and he continued to the Turbolift.

The doors swooshed open and he walked briskly right into the bodies of the two incredibly short intruders. "Ahh!" he gasped, stumbling backward, his hand instinctively grabbing at his belt for a phaser that wasn't there. "Drop your weapons!" he yelled as the security team on the Bridge sprang into action and moved to apprehend them.

"We d-do not have any w-w-weapons in our possession, sir," the slightly taller foreigner forced out shakily, his gray face colored with confusion. He stood about a meter and a half tall, and his counterpart, a female, wasn't even a meter in height. Their bodies were covered in thin stripes and their heads were bald except for the curly clusters of hair growing from the base of their skulls.

_They're just mere children_, Scotty thought, bewildered, his eyes frantically scanning their frail bodies in search of an explanation. _Why, she can't be more than two years old, can she…?_

"I am T-Teerik," the boy supplied, his voice still shaky. "This is Leeka. I am f-four years old, a-a-and she is three," he informed Scotty, as if he was answering Scotty's unspoken question. The children looked tattered; their clothes were in shreds and their bodies were badly bruised. The little girl had a gash on her forehead that looked fresh and the skin around one of her big, round, dark gray eyes was purple and puffy. Both of her eyes were watery. Scotty, on auto-pilot, moved to scoop the poor child up in his arms but stopped himself.

There was no way that two children could have maneuvered that cargo vessel so skillfully, dodging the phaser fire of three Federation starships.

It was a trap.

"Put your hands above your head," Scotty shouted, sternly.

The little girl complied quickly, fear flashing over her features, but the boy cried out in pain when he tried to lift his left arm. Scotty's heart came crashing to the floor and he looked around the Bridge, desperately searching for some kind of answer, but the faces of all the crewmen read the same confusion he felt. Sulu and Chekov exchanged a glance and then they looked back down at their various scanners, looking for some kind of clue; who the children were, where they came from - anything at all.

"Well?" Scotty asked the security officer, impatiently, his teeth clenched. "Are they armed or not?" he spat out.

"No..." the officer replied blankly, looking at his tricorder. "They have nothing on them at all, actually..."

"_Mr. Scott_," Uhura hissed angrily, standing up from her console, glaring at him. "They're just babies." She walked over and knelt in front of them. "I'm Uhura, this is Scotty, and that's Chekov and Sulu over there," she motioned to their station. Chekov gave an awkward wave. "We're from..." she paused to consider her words, "well, we're from a long time ago... in a galaxy far, far away. Where are you from?" she asked softly.

Teerik cleared his throat, biting back the pain in his arm. "You are from the Federation_._ We are from Bilstreeca." The shakiness in his voice had been replaced with assuredness, and he met her gaze head-on.

Uhura glanced back at Scotty. _How do they know where we're from? _he wondered. He couldn't keep his heart from breaking at the sight of the injured babes. He suddenly yearned for Spock and his emotionless logic. Scotty's gut told him that the children weren't a threat, but his head kept asserting that there was no way this little boy and girl had piloted that shuttle.

"Where is Kathreen Jeenway?" Leeka asked quietly, leaning towards Uhura, careful not to make eye-contact with the angry Scotsman.

"Captain Janeway... she's not on this ship," Uhura answered timidly, unsure of how to respond; not wanting to jeopardize _Voyager_'s Captain. The little girl's eyes filled with tears.

"Lets get you both to Sick Bay," Scotty said gently, kneeling down beside Uhura. Leeka threw herself into Uhura's arms, afraid. Scotty grimaced at her fear of him and stood up slowly, not wanting to frighten the children any further than he already had. Uhura carefully wrapped her arms around the little girl and stood up next to him, whispering assurances in her ear.

Teerik blinked back any mistiness in his own eyes and steeled himself. He looked at Scotty, studying the engineer's face for a few moments. Then his body loosened with a tired sigh and he lifted his movable arm up towards him. Scotty took the cue and scooped Teerik up, tenderly holding the boy's head to his shoulder. He looked at Uhura as they stepped onto the Turbolift and he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Sick Bay," he ordered the Turbolift.

He had no idea who these children were or where or what Bilstreeca was, but his heart pounded in his chest as he drew the young, suddenly sleeping boy close to him.

* * *

><p>"Now isn't that better?" Nurse Chapel asked, her already sweet voice dripping with the honey that children seem to bring out in adults. The little girl grinned up at her and nodded. Teerik and Leeka sat side by side on a bio-bed as Nurse Chapel straightened their fresh clothes and ran her hands lovingly over their bald heads, relishing the opportunity to be in the presence of children.<p>

Scotty had stood back in the corner of Sick Bay and watched, entranced with both Teerik and Leeka, as Nurse Chapel had treated their wounds and gently cleaned them up. She had replicated actual clothing for them and had even combed their curly hair. He had completely lost track of how much time had passed.

"Thank you, Miss-"

"You can call me Christine," Nurse Chapel corrected, softly tickling both of them.

"Christeene," both children repeated, giggling at her touch.

"So, is this your little sister?" she asked Teerik. The children looked at each other and burst out laughing. It was an incredibly warming sound to hear, especially coming from the mouths of the beaten and bruised children that had entered Sick Bay, asleep against the chests of the _Enterprise_'s officers, a few hours earlier. She smiled at the laughter.

"No, he is my husband," Leeka informed her, still giggling. Nurse Chapel raised her eyebrows.

"Your... husband?" she asked incredulously, shooting a humorous glance back at Scotty.

"We were married when she was one year old," Teerik explained, "our parents pick our wives for us." He glanced to the girl next to him. "She does not remember the ceremony, but it was beautiful."

The little girl shrugged. "I do not remember," she said, smiling.

Nurse Chapel was floored at the information, but she pushed it aside and braced herself for her next question. The important one. Somehow she knew the answer would be a painful one to hear, but they needed to ask. She looked down at her hands, searching for the right words.

Teerik reached out and touched her face. "Our parents are dead, Christeene" he stated with clinical evenness, as if he had anticipated her inevitable question. "They were killed three days ago by the Kazons." Scotty stiffened in the corner. Nurse Chapel just frowned and pulled them both into an embrace.

_The Four have discovered the Thirteen, and subtracted Five. _The opening words of that intercepted communiqué echoed in Scotty's mind. Both of their sets of parents had been a part of whatever force was resisting the Kazons... and were murdered in the line of duty.

"How did you get aboard that cargo shuttle?" Scotty asked, walking over to them. Obviously the brains of Bilstreecan children developed at a substantially faster rate than human children. They had flown the shuttle, beamed aboard their ship, and found the Bridge - all on their own. The way they spoke made them sound like adults, yet the way they huddled next to each other and the way they had grasped hold of Nurse Chapel at every opportunity were a constant reminder that they were only three and four years old.

"Our parents left instructions for us," Leeka said. "They made Teerik practice flying every single day."

"When the generator exploded, we escaped from Beelik and followed Ireekal, Chakotee, and Keerk into the tunnels," Teerik explained. The engineer and nurse locked gazes at the mention of their Captain's name. "One of the tunnels led to the main plant, where the cargo vessels were being launched. Chakotee and Keerk and their friend were going to escape, and the Kazons were going to order shuttles go after them. We sat in the dark and waited for the chaos. When it came, we crawled into a shuttle and powered it up. They did not even check to see who was piloting the shuttle, they just launched us."

"How were you able to avoid our phaser fire?"

Teerik's eyes twinkled. "I am a good pilot."

* * *

><p>"So..." Sulu started, shifting his chair to face Chekov. "How does it feel to have been out-maneuvered by a couple of children?" he asked.<p>

Chekov growled and continued looking at his scanners. "I don'd know vhat you are dalking about. I obviously did nod wish to harm zhee children, Sulu."

"Uh-huh," he drawled.

* * *

><p>Nurse Chapel continued to talk to the children, and Scotty finally snapped out of the trance he was in and stepped into the other room to contact the Captain.<p>

"Computer, what time is it?" he asked.

"0320 HRS," the computer reported.

_How long have we been in Sick Bay? _he wondered. Scotty had gotten so wrapped up in watching Nurse Chapel mothering the "intruders" and then listening to them tell their story, he had completely forgotten about Captain Kirk. He had felt the small ripple when _Voyager _had jumped to warp, the _Enterprise _tractored, but it hadn't really registered in his mind. Obviously that meant that the Captain and Spock were safe - but no one had felt the need to contact Scotty about it. Perhaps they had hailed the Bridge directly. Scotty sighed and flipped open his communicator.

"Scotty to Captain Kirk," he said, adjusting the dial.

"Kirk here," his Captain responded. It was nice to hear the sound of his voice again.

"Captain Kirk, this is Scotty. We have two stowaways aboard I think you'll be wantin' to meet," glancing through the window at Nurse Chapel and the children.

"On our way, Mr. Scott." The communicator beeped indicating a severed connection, and Scotty returned the communicator to his belt. He walked back to the bio-bed where the children were still sitting.

"Captain Kirk is on his way," he informed the group.

"Where is Captain Kathreen Jeenway?" Leeka asked for the second time. "Is she okay?"

"She's perfectly all right; she's just aboard the other starship, Leeka. She's aboard _Voyager_," Scotty replied. "How do you know who she is?"

"Our parents told us," Leeka responded, looking at Teerik. "They told us if anything were to ever happen to them, we needed to make sure we found Captain Jeenway. And she would protect us."

"Well, right now, we're going to protect you, okay?" Nurse Chapel assured her, scooping Leeka up and sitting her on her hip. "We'll make sure nothing happens to you," she promised.

"Okay, Christeene," Leeka whispered, wrapping her arms around the nurse's neck. Nurse Chapel looked worriedly at Scotty. Scotty felt it too. As unbelievably brave as these children were, there was obviously something bigger - much bigger - happening out there that the crew of the _Enterprise _wasn't aware of.

The doors to Sick Bay whooshed open and the command team appeared.


	15. Chapter 14: Have We Met Before?

**A/N**: First of all, thank you guys so much for the reviews. I love you. All of you. And please continue to call me out on my mistakes! Secondly, I don't want to insult anyone's knowledge of the Star Trek universe, but I started a story thread in this chapter based on a spoof I thought was hilarious, but I realized it might be a little toooo geeky and off-the-wall so I figured I should clarify. Even though, if you have to explain a joke... it's no longer funny. -_-

Anywayyyy, Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry's wife, played Nurse Christine Chapel in TOS (and Ambassador Troi in TNG and DS9) AAAAAANNNDDD she is the _voice of the computer_ in TOS, The Animated Series, TNG, DS9, **VOY**, ENT, in five of the films, the 2009 reboot, and like every Star Trek video game ever created. (She's kind of a badass.) That's all you need to know. And Happy 2013, FanFiction dot net!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
><em>Have We Met Before?<em>

Captain Kirk materialized, alongside Spock and McCoy, on the Bridge of his ship. He exhaled deeply.

It was good to be home.

The relaxation that immediately washed over him was momentary, however.

"Are the intruders in the Brig?" Kirk asked, absently heading for the Turbolift. The question was directed at everyone, but no one responded to him - he was ignored. Angrily, he spun his head to look at his crew and realized the entire Bridge had stood up upon his arrival to greet him and he stopped in his tracks, another wave of emotion washing over him. Kirk's heart swelled and he smiled warmly at his comrades. "At ease, gentlemen."

"It's good to have you back, Captain," Sulu said before he took his seat.

"It's good to be back, Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov," he said, placing a hand on their shoulders. "Lt. Uhura." He greeted each one of his team. "Now where are our intruders?"

"They're in Sick Bay," Uhura responded.

"In Sick Bay?!" McCoy shouted. "Why didn't anyone contact me?"

"Relax, Bones," Kirk said. McCoy had specifically requested not to be bothered. "Relax... What did we_ just_ talk about?" he asked with a sly smile, allowing himself, also, to relax once again. Obviously the intruder situation wasn't that dire if Scotty had decided to treat their injuries. The "stowaways," as Scotty had called them, must have been a part of The Resistance, Kirk decided.

The three officers made their way to Sick Bay, all three uncharacteristically silent with one another. None of them wanted to discuss the consequences of what _Voyager_'s crew had just told them: no matter what actions they took here today, in a few days it would all be meaningless. In Kirk's heart he knew that Janeway was right, but he desperately wanted to remember what had happened here. He wanted to remember the grace of _Voyager_'s ballsy, beautiful, female Captain. He wanted to remember pouring his heart out to Chakotay in their prison cell. He wanted to remember the silliness of his initial reactions to Janeway during their first communication.

He wanted to remember all of it.

They approached Sick Bay and he locked eyes with both Spock and McCoy - they didn't know what to expect and whoever was waiting for them in there, they needed to present a united front. They nodded silently at him and entered.

The doors slid open to an unfamiliar sight: Nurse Chapel cradling an alien child in her arms. And another one sat on the bio-bed in front of Scotty. They all turned their heads to look at the opened door, and Scotty scooped the boy up and approached them.

"Ummm...?" was all Kirk was able to formulate.

"Fascinating," Spock asserted. "They are Bilstreecan youth."

"Where the hell did they come from?" McCoy asked.

Scotty opened his mouth to respond but the young Bilstreecan in Nurse Chapel's arms spoke first.

"Keerk!" the female child shouted. Nurse Chapel set the girl down and she waddled over to him. Kirk knelt down to greet the girl.

"Well, hello," he said, surprised at her recognition of him. He extended his hand to her. "Have we met before? What's your name?"

"Leeka. That is my husband, Teerik." _Her husband!? _The boy in Scotty's arms waved. "Captain Keerk, will you please take us to _Voyager _now?"

"Right now?" was all Kirk could ask, his mind spinning.

They were Bilstreecans, that was for sure. He had no idea what two children were doing on the planet that was being used as a military base. And how did they come to be on the _Enterprise_? They must have been on the shuttle that evaded his phaser fire. That very last shuttle had flown past the _Delta Flyer _and he had watched breathlessly as it headed straight for the hull of the _Enterprise. _It exploded, however, before reaching its target and Kirk had assumed Chekov had shot it. Kirk hadn't given the shuttle a second thought.

"Yes, right now," she said. Her voice was steady and calm but it wasn't mechanical or monotone like Ireekal or Leerig's. "We need to get to _Voyager_. We are on the wrong ship, Captain Keerk. We made a mistake." Leeka paused and looked at her feet and Kirk noticed her hesitation.

"What is it?" he asked tenderly. "Was there something else?"

"Can we bring Christeene?"

Nurse Chapel grinned. _Janeway's going to love that, _Kirk thought, smiling at the little girl's request to bring another crewmember from the _Enterprise _aboard her ship.

He stood up and straightened his golden uniform. "All right... gentlemen, Leeka, Teerik, _Miss Chapel_..." he smiled at the children, "back to the Transporter!" he ordered like a teacher leading small children to a field trip. McCoy narrowed his eyes at the Captain, but Kirk marched on, enthusiastically leading the way. The children followed him giddily.

* * *

><p>Captain Janeway hung her shoulders as she staidly made her way to Transporter Room One.<p>

It was now 0400 hours, and the only rest she had gotten was what had felt like fifteen minutes of sleep next to Chakotay earlier. She had forced her exhaustion out of her mind and had been heading back to Sick Bay to keep watch over her First Officer when, yet again, she was summoned.

Captain Kirk and gang were _returning _to _Voyager _and they were bringing with them an extra crewman and the stowaways. She was too flustered to mull over the possibilities of who they were, so she absentmindedly walked the halls to the Transporter to wait to be surprised.

She strode through the Transporter Room doors as the Ensign was preparing to receive the transport. Janeway leaned against the wall and watched the six bodies - two of them incredibly short - materialize before her. With a deep breath she stood up straight, tugged at her uniform, slipped the mask of command back on over her tired features, and gathered herself to give a proper Starfleet greeting their new guests, who, despite having somehow infiltrated the _Enterprise_, were apparently not a threat.

When the swirling lights cleared and her eyes settled upon them, however, her brow furrowed. They were just children. She stammered, at a loss words, and looked at Captain Kirk, then back at the children. The little girl made eye contact with her and gasped.

"Kathreen Jeenway!" she squealed and bounded for the Captain. "It is you!" The little girl slammed into her with such force that Janeway struggled to maintain her balance. The girl wrapped her arms around Janeway's legs, and Janeway, baffled and wide-eyed, patted the girl's head and looked at Kirk for an explanation. He shrugged.

"I don't know what to tell you, Captain," he said as he stepped down off the pad and headed towards the door. "They were on the shuttle that maneuvered past our phasers, they transported themselves onto my ship, and... and they're asking for you."

"They are from Bilstreeca," Spock said, pausing in front of her to search her eyes; to make sure the weight of his words was not lost on her.

She nodded to convey her understanding, and he exited the room. _Where are they going? _she thought. It seemed like years ago that she had sat in her Ready Room, negotiating with Captain Kirk the conditions of his visit to _Voyager_, and now they all wandered freely around her ship. How long ago was that conversation? One day? Two? Three? They all blurred together. Dr. McCoy nodded at her as he, too, exited the Transporter room to some un-announced location.

What Spock was trying to wordlessly tell her was that these children had been caught somewhere in the crossfires of the Kazon-Bilstreecan war. Janeway cringed at the thought. She looked down at the little girl wrapped around her legs and placed a finger under the girl's chin to draw her gaze up towards her, and her little cheeks were streaked with quiet tears. Kathryn impulsively leaned down and picked up the child, drawing the girl close to her body. As she did, Janeway's eyes rested for the first time on _Voyager_'s newest visitor from the _23rd _century.

She was absolutely beautiful, with short blonde hair and a curvy figure - she looked like a woman straight out of one of Tom Paris' holodeck programs. She must have been some kind of science officer, since her uniform was blue, and she was holding the second child's hand. The woman seemed to exude the very essence of nurturing from her pores, and Janeway liked her instantly.

"Hello, I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway," she said, shifting the little girl onto her hip and extending her hand to the woman.

"Christine Chapel," the woman said, shaking the proffered hand. "I'm the Head Nurse aboard the _Enterprise._"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nurse Chapel."

"Please, call me Christine," she said sweetly. Janeway smiled and turned her attention back to the girl on her hip.

"And you, sweetie? What's your name?"

"I am Leeka, and that is Teerik," she said, pointing at the boy attached to Christine's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Leeka, Teerik," she said softly, her thumb wiping away the tears on Leeka's cheeks. "Lets go to a place where we can sit and talk, all right?" The children nodded.

* * *

><p>Kathryn had taken Nurse Chapel and the young stowaways to one of the empty guest quarters, where they would be alone and undisturbed, away from the intimidating uniforms and stares of her crew.<p>

Leeka had fallen asleep almost immediately in Janeway's arms and Teerik had been left to tell their story. He spoke about their parents' role as double-agents and recent deaths, their subsequent time spent in the same prison facility that Kirk and Chakotay had been in, the stolen cargo shuttle, and their all-consuming mission: to find Captain Kathryn Janeway.

Teerik didn't have much of an explanation as to why it was so important to get aboard _Voyager_, only that their parents, specifically Teerik's parents, had drilled it into their heads to do so. Should the children, the married couple, ever find themselves alone, their priority was to find Captain Janeway, whatever the cost. And, to the Captain's amazement, they had. Against incredible odds.

Leerig's story that Captain Kirk had regurgitated during his briefing about the planet echoed in her mind. _The enemy of your enemy is your friend, _she remembered. That was all Teerik's parents had been thinking when they been drilling the mission into their child's mind. They had absolutely nothing to base their faith on - just that if the evil Kazons' hatred for _Voyager _was so passionate, it must have been because _Voyager_ stood for something good.

It was now 0500 hours and Teerik's eyes were becoming foggy, although she could tell he was ardently fighting off sleep. "I think it's time for bed," she said, forcing a yawn to let the boy know he was not alone in his exhaustion. Teerik nodded sleepily and placed his hand in Nurse Chapel's.

Leeka had not moved from Janeway, and was wrapped around her neck with an iron-grip. She stood up to place the child on the couch, but Leeka just tightened her hold.

"Please feel free to use the replicator for whatever you need," she said to Nurse Chapel. "Clothes, food, anything."

"Thank you very much, Captain," she replied, guiding the boy to the bed. "I really appreciate you allowing me to come aboard."

Kathryn smiled at the nurse and tried once again to gently shake off Leeka and set her on the couch, but she stirred. "Where are you going, Kathreen?" she asked groggily.

"_You _are going to sleep," she smiled, combing her fingers through the little girl's curly hair in a motherly way. Leeka let go of her grasp around Kathryn's neck and placed both of her hands on Kathryn's cheeks, looking deeply into her eyes.

"We are going to see Chakotee," Leeka stated calmly. Kathryn's heart sank. The children knew who Kirk and Chakotay were because they had shared a wall with them in Beelik and had then quietly followed them through the tunnels. But they didn't know what had happened after that.

"No, I'm going to bed also," Kathryn lied. "But I will see you when you wake up, okay?"

"We are going to see Chakotee," Leeka repeated, climbing off of Kathryn and heading for the door. Kathryn moved to pick the girl back up and return her to the couch, but Leeka resisted. "No, Kathreen, no," she whined, trying to wriggle free. "We are going to see Chakotee. We have to be there when he wakes up." Kathryn grew still and the little girl stopped squirming.

_What?_ Kathryn wasn't sure if she had said it out loud or in her head; her entire being was numb with shock.

"We have to be there when Chakotee wakes up," Leeka demanded. Kathryn looked at the girl and then back at Christine, who was standing there watching the interaction in silence, oblivious to the state of Kathryn's First Officer. Christine moved to take the child from Kathryn's arms but Kathryn stopped her.

"No... No, I think there is somewhere we have to go." Kathryn's face mirrored the bewilderment on Christine's, and she was almost in disbelief of her own words. But she moved towards the door anyway and Leeka smiled.

"We have to go see Chakotee," Leeka repeated as Kathryn stepped out of the guest quarters. "We have to be there when he wakes up."

Kathryn remained silent as she walked to Sick Bay, cuddling the small child against her. She pushed down the hope that Chakotay might be awake and reminded herself that Leeka was just a child. An amazing, determined, brave child - but a child nonetheless. Perhaps she had heard McCoy talking about Chakotay while they were on the _Enterprise_, and she had just assumed Kathryn would want to be taking care of him. Kahtryn felt her pace quicken beneath her and she slowed herself down, taking a deep breath. What was she doing bringing a three year-old in to see a man in a coma? Whose parents had just died? Wasn't the child traumatized enough? Kathryn came to a stop and considered turning back around but Leeka spoke up.

"No, Kathreen. We _have _to go see Chakotee, _now_," she demanded. "We have to be there when he wakes up." Kathryn fought back her tears and nodded at the girl, resuming course to Sick Bay.

The doors swooshed open and Kathryn's heart sank. She couldn't help herself; a miniscule part of her had expected her First Officer to be awake and waiting for her return. Kathryn sighed and snuggled Leeka closer, walking fully into the room. B'Elanna had been here, she realized. Chakotay's medicine wheel was set up above him, the stones placed strategically to guide his spirit home.

McCoy had returned to his side, but was asleep and snoring softly in his chair. She grinned and gently shook him awake.

"Dr. McCoy," she said quietly. "Wake up and go to bed."

"I was just resting my eyes," he said groggily, opening one of them to look at the Captain. Leeka giggled.

"You were asleep. It's okay, we're here now, so go to bed. Go ask... someone to assign you to a guest quarters," she waved at the door absently, squinting in thought. She couldn't remember who was in charge of quarter assignments.

"All right, Captain," McCoy said, standing to his feet. "Make sure the hologram calls me if there are any developments."

"Don't count on it," the EMH called from somewhere in the darkness. McCoy rolled his eyes and left.

"Tuvok! Talk to Tuvok..." she called after him, but the doctor was already gone.

Kathryn ran a hand across Chakotay's hair line. The exhaustion and emotions that she had forced down threatened to bubble to the surface. Leeka wiggled out of Kathryn's arms and onto Chakotay's bio-bed, carefully climbing onto his chest. She laid down, looking at him. Kathryn watched puzzled as Leeka crawled closer to his face and murmered "Chakotee" under her breath as she outstretched her hands and laid them on his cheeks.

* * *

><p><em>He was standing outside of her house, calling to her. She was sitting in a chair, crying, trying to pull up his signal on her communicatoins console. But he was already here, outside her house, and he was yelling at the top of his lungs. <em>Why can't she hear me? _he thought, crazily looking around him for something to caputre her attention. He found a rock and he tossed gently it at the window. Nothing. He could hear her sobs from the outside; how could she not hear the sound of the rock? He picked it up again and threw it against the window with all his strength, but it bounced off silently. Tears began to stream down his face as he watched her, his whole body aching to grab hold of her and kiss the saddness away._

He felt his hand twitch and he swallowed - his mouth was dry. Very dry. _Where am I? _His hand was holding something, or, rather, something was holding his hand. Instinctively he knew it was Kathryn and he wrapped his fingers around the delicate hand.

Something else, something foreign, however, was attached his face.

Chakotay's eyebrows furrowed and he blinked his eyes open. Everything was blurry and he moved his mouth to speak but nothing came out. His head was pounding. He clasped his hand tighter around Kathryn's and he thought he heard her say something, but he couldn't register it. It felt like he was under water.

When his vision finally came into focus, his eyes settled first upon the child clutching his head, and then on Kathryn. Tears were freely streaming down her face and he wasn't sure if he remembered a time when he had seen her crying so openly and unabashedly. What happened to her? Was she happy or sad? Her lips were moving but he heard nothing. He needed to comfort her, to tell her everything would be all right, but his mouth refused to form words.

Then, like an old Earth radio tuning into a station, his hearing finally cleared.

"Chakotay, oh, Chakotay... are you all right?" Kathryn asked shakily as she removed the child from his chest. He nodded and smiled at her, stroking her hand with this thumb. Who was the child? Was the child Kathryn's? How long had he been asleep? His eyes narrowed at the little girl on his Captain's hip. Motherhood looked good on her, he decided, but something was wrong. He didn't remember being a part of it.

The Doctor popped into his line of vision. "Welcome back, Commander," he greeted, scanning Chakotay's body with a tricorder. "It certainly took you long enough. I am going to give you a hypospray that will clear your passage ways and allow you to speak, but be careful. You haven't used those vocal cords in a while, so be gentle on them." Chakotay nodded and The Doctor pressed the hypospray against his neck.

Breathing suddenly became easier and his mouth didn't feel as dry. "Kath... Kathryn," he breathed, his voice a raspy whisper. He watched her body tremble as he said her name. "How... long...? Long enough... for you to have a baby? Is... she mine?"

"Oh, Chakotay," Kathryn repeated, laughing through her tears. But he was only half-joking.

"No, ser...seriously," he forced out, his words still shaky. His eyes scanned the child in Kathryn's arms. She looked so familiar. "Have... we met before?" he asked her.

"No, Chakotee," the little girl said with a grin. "But good morning."

The child's familiar voice brought Chakotay's memories flooding back and they crashed over him like a tsunami. _The wormhole. The Enterprise. The Kazons. Kirk. Spock. Beelik. Ireekal - that was who the child looked like. She looked like a miniature Ireekal. Leerig. Bilstreeca. An army. He was shot! _Chakotay's eyes grew wide and he grabbed at his chest, trying to get up, looking helplessly at Kathryn.

The Doctor quickly took the little Bilstreecan girl out of Kathryn's arms and Kathryn placed both of her hands on Chakotay's shoulders, pushing him back down. "Hey, hey," she soothed. "You're all right now, Chakotay," she said tenderly. "You were shot on the planet, but you're on _Voyager _now and everything is okay. Captain Kirk is okay, and so is Spock and everyone else. Everybody is okay. You're all right, Commander."

His heart rate started to go down and his breathing slowed again. She looked around to make sure The Doctor wasn't in earshot and she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "And I would never _dream_ of having a child that wasn't yours." The heat of her breath against his neck warmed his entire body. They smiled at each other and she moved her hand to caress his cheek, tears still escaping from her eyes. He pressed his face against her palm, relishing the contact. He covered both of her hands with his own.

"What do you say we ditch this place?" He had found his voice again. "Lets get outta here."

"I don't know about that, Chakotay," she replied, looking at The Doctor, who was sitting in a chair, bouncing the small child on his lap. "When can he be released from Sick Bay?"

"Well..." The Doctor said, looking at the command team, still bouncing the little girl. Both of them were staring at him expectantly. "I need to run a few tests, but if everything checks out, and if you can both _promise _that you are going to go back to your quarters and do nothing but _rest, _then he can go. But I mean it. No strenuous activity - at all."

"Of course, Doctor," Janeway said, smiling at her First Officer. "We'll just rest." She had completely forgotten how tired she was the moment she felt Chakotay's hand move in hers. "In seperate quarters, of course," she added quickly, looking at The Doctor.

He turned his back to her and rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course, Captain..."

* * *

><p>The walk from Sick Bay to their quarters was too long, and The Doctor had arranged a site-to-site transport for them. They materialized in Kathryn's quarters, Chakotay's arm hung across her shoulders, his weight slumped upon her. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his bare skin was pressed against her, and she was trying not to notice.<p>

Kathryn had requested they be transported to the hallway _outside_ of their quarters, so they could _pretend_ go their separate ways, but she was too worn out to care about The Doctor's other plans. Besides, no matter where they had been transported to, they weren't spending the night alone. Not tonight. She grabbed hold of him and helped lead him to her bed.

His steps were weak and deliberate. The Doctor had run his tests and assured them that Chakotay was fine - he just needed to gently coax his muscles back to life. They made it to the bed and she helped him sit down, trying, again, to ignore his familiar aroma. When she pulled away she found her face just centimeters from his; she could take a bath in the depths of his brown eyes and she quickly straightened before she got lost in them. Chakotay sighed.

"So... there are some things that need filling in," he said, ready to be briefed.

"Tomorrow, Commander," Kathryn replied, desperately craving sleep. "We have all the time in the world," she smiled at him. That was a lie. The one thing they did _not _have was time.

Chakotay shrugged; it was all the same to him. His thoughts were too pre-occupied with the prospect of spending the night in the same bed as Kathryn Janeway, even if he was restricted from any "strenuous activity." They hadn't slept in the same bed since they were on New Earth. He watched her, entranced, as she pulled off her boots and Starfleet jacket, tiredly tossing them to the floor. She removed her pips, turned off the lights, and then slid under the blankets into bed next to him. They both trembled slightly at their proximity to one another. His whole being ached to pull her body against his, but he resisted and laid down next to her, respectfully remaining on top of the blankets.

"Chakotay."

"Yes, Kathryn?"

"There was a moment, or two, when I thought I had lost you." Her voice broke and he heard the pain behind her confession.

"I thought I had lost _you_ a time or two." He swallowed as the vision of her lying on the ground in the rain, lifeless, fought its way to the surface. "But we're here now. I'm not going anywhere." He felt her body relax beside him.

"Chakotay."

"Yes, Kathryn?"

"Get under the blanket."

He smiled and obeyed her order.

* * *

><p>The Doctor heard the doors to his Sick Bay woosh open and he sighed; he was never going to get anything done, and his research was incredibly important. <em>What is it now, Dr. McCoy? <em>he thought angrily.

He looked up from his computer to investigate the disruption and his mouth gaped.

If he had lungs, his breath would have caught in his throat.

If he had a heart, it would have skipped a beat.

If he had a pulse, it would have quickened.

If he had pores, they would have started to produce sweat.

Standing in his doorway was the most beauitful creature he had ever seen. He stood up hurriedly and wiped the non-existant sweat off his palms, moving to the door of his office. He nervously knocked down some beakers in his rush to get there, and the noise caught her attention. She looked over to find the source of the clamor.

He smiled timidly at her as she walked towards him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Doctor," the woman apologized sweetly, "I didn't mean to startle you. Let me help you clean this up," she said, bending down to pick up the broken glass. There was something oddly familar about her.

"Nonsense, nonsense," The Doctor muttered, embarrassed and flustered, shutting the door to his office. "Leave it there. It-It's fine. What, um, brings you to Sick Bay? Are you... sick? Are you in need of medical assitance?" She smiled at him and he could have sworn he felt his cheeks grow red.

"Oh, no, I'm just here to take Leeka back to my quarters, and I was looking for Dr. McCoy," she said.

"Leeka is sleeping on a bio-bed, right over there," he pointed. "As for Dr. McCoy, he is, thankfully, bothering someone else at the moment." He hadn't meant it to be a joke, but she laughed as she made her way to the bio-bed. The sound of her laughter made him grin in spite of himself.

"Well, I'd better go get the girl into bed. Thank you, and sorry, again, for disrupting you." She flashed another brilliant smile as she scooped up the young girl. Then she turned to walk away and The Doctor frantically searched for a reason to make her stay.

There was something so undeniably familiar about her, but he couldn't place what it was. The feeling, however, was over-whelming and, despite the impossibility, he forced out, "Have we met before?"

"No, I don't believe so," she said, taking in his question. She didn't cast him a strange glance or chastise him for the ridiculousness of the question. "But the loss is mine."

He was ready to throw himself at her feet, but she turned and resumed her route towards the door.

"Wait!" She turned back around. "I, um, that does not count as a proper introduction," The Doctor said desperately.

"You're right, where are my manners? I'm Nurse Christine Chapel, from the _Enterprise_," she looked down at her uniform, "obviously," she added. "But just call me Christine." Something about her voice simultaneously put him at ease and drew him in.

The Doctor suddenly wished he had a name. "I am _Voyager_'s Emergency Medical Hologram... and Chief Medical Officer," he said, searching her features for her reaction to his composition. If she found it off-putting at all, she didn't let it show. He liked her scores better than Dr. McCoy already.

"Nice to meet you," she said, extending her free hand to him.

"Enchanté," he replied, gently pressing his lips on her proffered hand. "You... are magnificent." Her cheeks turned a deep crimson and she lowered her eyes.

"Thank you, Doctor. I do hope we have a chance to meet again."

"I will make that sure we do," he said graciously. The Doctor watched as she finally walked out the door, cradling the sleeping child. He returned to his desk, ignoring the broken beakers on the floor, and sat in front of his computer. What was he researching before she came in? He had no idea anymore; it must not have been important. "Computer, pull up every Starfleet record on Nurse Christine Chapel."

* * *

><p>Kathryn watched as Chakotay gently shifted around in her bed, trying to find a comfortable position. He was careful not to touch her, and she wondered why.<p>

_Oh, right _- _I broke up with him, _she remembered. She felt a sudden pang of guilt; that was the last conversation they had had together before Chakotay embarked on the rescue mission. It seemed like ages ago. Kathryn's entire body ached with exhaustion, but she couldn't fall asleep like this. Neither could he, apparently.

Chakotay didn't know the circumstances that had arisen since his return from the planet. He didn't know that in a few days, _Voyager _would be reset. But she did. Her eyes searched the ceiling pleadingly, as if a god above her could condone the forbidden physical intimacy. What could they lose? They were already in bed together, but it didn't feel like enough.

Kathryn rolled herself onto her side and slowly scooted herself into the nook of his arm, looking at him to gauge his reaction. A perplexed look splashed over his features, but it was replaced quickly with a smile that brightened the darkened room. He pulled her into his strong embrace and Kathryn felt the familiar mixture of electricity and tranquility pulse through her.

Chakotay brushed his lips on Kathryn's forehead, letting them linger on her skin for a moment before he shifted their bodies so they were spooning. Her body was enfolded in his arms and she hung on to him as if she was worried she might lose him again.

And that was how they remained as they both drifted off to sleep.

It was the closest to absolute peace either of them had experienced in a long, long time.


	16. Chapter 15: Why the Hell Not?

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN:**

**WHY THE HELL NOT?**

Kathryn's eyes fluttered open and an involuntary smile crept across her face as she remembered where she was: in his arms. She wanted to stay there all day, but there was a ship that needed looking after. And a universe that needed saving. She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it to wake him up. He stirred against her and she grinned again.

"Is that a phaser in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

He groaned and rolled over onto his back, chuckling. "Good morning, Captain."

"Good morning, Commander."

They laid in silence for a minute or two, both struggling to commit every detail of the moment to memory.

"I missed you," Chakotay said abruptly, staring at the ceiling, a hint of regret in his voice. "I missed this."

Kathryn looked over at him and searched for the right words. Emotional and physical exhaustion had overtaken her last night, and she hadn't communicated what it meant to her to have him alive again. Kathryn wasn't even sure if she really let herself believe that there was ever the possibility of living life without him. It seemed almost impossible.

"I missed you too, Chakotay." She wasn't sure if she was talking about the last three days, or the last five years.

He shifted himself onto his side and looked at her. "So, what is it I'm missing? Am I dead? Have I been sent to a parallel universe?"

"What do you mean?" Then it occurred to her: she had allowed him to spend the night in her bed. It was the first time that had ever happened aboard _Voyager, _and Chakotay had no way of knowing what had prompted the breach of protocol. She silently scolded herself for what was, yet again, a case of her leading him on. Of mixed signals.

She sighed, planning her words. "There's no easy way of saying this, so I'll just say it. When we send the _Enterprise _back in two days, it will all be erased; none of it will have happened." Kathryn paused, letting her words sink in. She could see the wheels of thought turning on his face. "We'll be... reset." She cringed at her use of the word _reset_; it made their lives sound like a computer program.

Chakotay broke eye-contact with her and resumed his research on her ceiling, mulling over the implications of the news. Kathryn was suddenly worried that he was thinking that the only reason she had spent the night with him was because it would soon be erased. That wasn't true. She opened her mouth to inform him, but he spoke first.

"And the children?" he asked, pointedly changing the subject.

"Teerik and Leeka... They're Bilstreecan," she responded, pushing herself up to a sitting position, slipping on her captain's mask. "They somehow managed to commandeer a cargo shuttle and beamed aboard the _Enterprise_, while you were unconscious on the _Flyer_. As far as I can tell, they're harmless; they were just blindly following their parents' wishes."

Chakotay nodded. He remembered what Leerig had told him about waiting for the Federation to come and rescue them. "What do they want?"

"They want us to fight the Kazons."

"Are we?"

Kathryn sighed. "I want to, Chakotay. But we _have _to send the _Enterprise _back. It's non-negotiable. Besides, the way I see it, the Kazons are going to attack us one way or the other. We'll be forced to fight no matter what."

"But we won't have the tactical knowledge Ireekal gave us; we won't know how to detect or defeat them."

"You think we should turn around?"

"Can't we just send the _Enterprise _on its course, and let them fly through the wormhole on their own? We don't need to supervise that."

"No, we don't," she admitted. Internally, however, she resolved that they shouldn't let Captain Kirk out of their eyesight for even a minute. "But even if we were to go back and defeat the Kazons, the moment the _Enterprise _enters the conduit, none of it will have happened. We either send them through the conduit, or we don't."

Chakotay paused, thinking. "No," he started slowly, "the _Enterprise _needs to be sent back. You're right. That needs to be our top priority."

Kathryn laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Then we're agreed."

"Something tells me this was already decided," Chakotay said, returning her smile.

"Well, yes. But you and I did have a remarkably one-sided conversation about it in sickbay."

"I hope I helped."

"You did, actually," she said, starting to slide out of bed. He grabbed her hand.

"Stay." His voice was steady but his eyes were pleading. "Just a few more minutes."

Kathryn looked at him and considered the request. "Okay... but just a few more minutes. We have a meeting in an hour, and you need to get cleared for duty by The Doctor. And I need to pay another visit to… our young visitors."

She settled back down, returning to the familiar nook in his arm that had once been a safe haven for her on a long gone, faraway planet. He nuzzled her hair and breathed in the smell of her shampoo.

Kathryn closed her eyes and imagined every morning began like this.

* * *

><p>"You're perfectly fine, Commander," The Doctor said, running his tricorder over Chakotay's forehead. "You can return to duty."<p>

"Thank you, Doc." Chakotay sat up in the bio-bed. A thought suddenly struck him; it wasn't really a thought, it was more of a subtle glimmer of hope that he didn't dare let become a thought. "And the strenuous activity? Am I clear?"

"I don't know what strenuous activity you could possibly get yourself involved in but, yes, you're fine. Normally, a patient requires a good amount of time after coming out of a coma, no matter how short its duration, to recover. But, thankfully for you, you had above-par medical care. Please relay such information to Dr. McCoy, should he inquire about your status."

Relief and a trace of excitement washed over Chakotay and he smiled. "Of course, Doctor, will do." He stood up and headed towards the door.

"Commander, wait," the EMH called after him.

"What is it, Doctor?"

"I have a query... of a personal nature."

"Sure, go ahead," Chakotay said, trying to keep the curiosity from his features. The Doctor sounded almost nervous, if that were possible.

"I was just wondering what insight, if any, you might have about human courting rituals."

Chakotay raised his eyebrows. The Doctor generally didn't sound quite so detached. Not in recent years, anyway. _Human courting rituals? What does that even mean?_ Chakotay wondered. _What a strange thing to be researching._ Then a different thought occurred to him. "Are you asking for... dating advice, Doctor?"

"Not _advice, _just _insight._"

"Of course. Well, I'm afraid you're asking the least qualified person on board to answer that question... Trust me," he muttered. "I would suggest talking to Tom Paris to further your... research?"

"My research, yes, yes... my research. I was just attempting to educate Seven on the human practice of 'courtship,' and figured I should get an insider's opinion," The Doctor said, his voice a little too hurried. "I will definitely consult with Mr. Paris."

"Good luck, Doctor," Chakotay grinned, making his way to the Bridge.

* * *

><p>"You are going to leave."<p>

"You are not going to stay and fight."

"We _are _going to fight, I promise. We just have to do this first. I know it's difficult for you two to understand, but we don't have a choice. We have to send the _Enterprise _back, or the universe we live in now is going to be altered. It is going to be destroyed, and, if it is, _Voyager _won't even be here. This ship will have never even existed," Janeway said, motioning to the walls around them.

"But, Kathreen, you are our last hope," Teerik pleaded. A pang of guilt struck Janeway's gut and she lowered her eyes. This whole Kazon situation was her doing; yet another repercussion of her decision to save the Ocampa. And Bilstreeca was asking her to come out if it a hero. Janeway felt Teerik's small hands touch her cheeks.

"Why are you sad?" the boy asked, a confused look on his face. He looked like he was straining to read a book with words too big for him to understand.

Janeway took a breath and explained the situation to the children and Nurse Chapel, who was standing to the side, listening with sympathetic eyes. Janeway told them about how _Voyager _had destroyed the array to save a helpless species, and had in so doing ignited the fury of the Kazons. She found herself, surprisingly, admitting to them that the chaos that had ensued on Bilstreeca was no doubt the fault of her decision.

"Who told you that, Kathreen?" Teerik asked, concerned. "Who told you it was your fault?"

"It just is, Teerik. And I am so, so sorry," she said, biting back her emotions. She didn't often apologize for her actions, and if she was thrown back into that situation with the Ocampa again... she would have made the same decision. She would still have destroyed the array. But looking into Teerik's round, gray eyes, full of trust and reverence when he looked at her, made Kathryn's whole body ache and she found herself wanting to beg for his forgiveness. "If we hadn't interfered, the Kazons would never have taken over."

"No. Perhaps the Kazons would never have insisted we track you, but our explorers would have found them anyway. And they still would have taken over our planet. You are not responsible. We request your help not because you owe Bilstreeca anything; we have simply exhausted all other options. And, should you have _not_ made an enemy of the Kazons, no one would ever have found us. If you look at it that way, perhaps your actions saved us as well as the Oceempa."

Kathryn looked at him bewildered. How was it that these two children contained more wisdom in their tiny bodies than most adults found in a lifetime? She gripped the boy's shoulders and her eyes bore into his. "We _must _send the _Enterprise _back. To save our own world from hostile take-overs, or we will have never existed. But _Voyager _isn't going anywhere, Teerik. We will stay and we will fight."

Teerik looked back at her with equal intensity. "I believe that you will."

* * *

><p>Commander Chakotay absently nodded along as the briefing came to a close. Almost none of the information being presented was new information; the meeting had been held, primarily, for his benefit. He struggled to keep his mind in the present, in the room, but it failed him and continuously wandered off to the woman sitting next to him. Kathryn, always the pinnacle of professionalism, sat with her hands folded, focused on the conversation that was playing out without him. Suddenly her eyes turned to meet his and yanked him back into the moment. He straightened in his chair, forcing his mind back into the room.<p>

"Is there anything else?" she asked, looking around the table. She was answered with silence. "All right. Please return to your individual research, and do not hesitate to come to me with any new findings; I'll be in my Ready Room. And remember, we're not informing the crew about the..."

"Reset trope," McCoy scowled, finishing her sentence.

She nodded. "Dismissed."

He remained sitting for a moment as the senior staff from the two vessels stood up and exited the room, followed by the Captain, who shot Chakotay a concerned glance as she made her way to the door. He shook his head and smiled to reassure her as she left, then his mind returned to the path it was previously wandering down. He should make her dinner tonight, he decided. Like he used to while they were on New Earth.

"Tattoo!" The voice jolted Chakotay back into the room once again; the room he realized was now filled only by Captain Kirk, Spock, and himself.

"Captain?" he asked blankly.

"Firstly, welcome back," Kirk said with a warm smile. He placed a hand on Chakotay's shoulder and squeezed. "It's good to have you back. I haven't had the chance to thank you for coming after me back there." The softness in Kirk's voice surprised Chakotay. "Secondly, we need to discuss your battle strategy."

"Battle strategy?"

The Captain narrowed his eyes. "How you're going to woo the Captain."

"Who said anything about wooing the Captain?" Chakotay asked, trying to sound innocent. That had been exactly what he was considering for nearly the entirety of the meeting.

"It is logical, Commander," Spock offered, "that the Captain would accept your advances, now that it is known that the next few days are something of a 'free pass,' as you humans might say."

"My first officer is right, Chakotay."

Spock's eyebrow arched. "I am always right."

"And that's why we like having you around," Kirk replied, smiling. He turned back to Chakotay, "Now's your moment! You have to go for it!" Kirk was almost bubbling over with enthusiasm and Chakotay returned it with a wide smile.

"Gentlemen, I have this under control," he promised.

"You're sure you don't need our advice?"

Chakotay looked first at the enthusiastic Kirk and then at the stoic Spock, who seemed equally as inexplicably invested in _Voyager_'s first officer's romance as his Captain was.

"No, but I thank you both for your support," he said politely as he headed for the door.

"You don't want to run your plan by us?" Kirk called after him.

"Nope!" he called back as the doors swooshed closed.

* * *

><p>"Captain!" McCoy exclaimed as he burst through the door of her Ready Room.<p>

"What?" Janeway asked, smiling at his sudden appearance. It was going to be difficult to let him go.

"Now's your moment!"

"My moment for what?"

"To be with Chakotay!" he said excitedly as he sat down in front of her desk.

The Captain narrowed her eyes. "Oh?"

"Yes. Didn't you learn anything from the coma? Life is too damn short. Especially when you're down to two days," he smirked.

"I won't act like the thought hadn't crossed my mind. It has. Several times, in fact. But why re-live the past if you know it will be fruitless?

"Why the hell _not_? Live a little!"

"Perhaps you're right," she sighed.

"I am! I dare say my reasoning is pretty damn logical, even. Don't tell the Vulcan. You love him, he loves you, now go out to the Bridge and invite him for dinner." McCoy crossed his arms over his chest as if to end the discussion.

Kathryn thought about it. "I will," she promised. "But... _Voyager _isn't going to pause and wait for me. I need to finish my work here first. So... good night, Dr. McCoy."

McCoy glanced down at the invisible ancient Earth time piece on his wrist again. "Good night? It's like 1500 hours."

"_Good night, _doctor."

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving." He sauntered out of the room and she attempted to return her focus to her computer screen, but failed. Instead she leaned back in her chair and thought about her dinner plans.

"Where in the world

* * *

><p>have you been?" Kirk asked. "We've barely seen you these last few days."<p>

"Around," McCoy answered. "Why? Did you miss me?"

"Hardly," Spock muttered.

"Listen. I think we have a plan to get the Captain and the Commander together," Kirk said, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

"_He _has a plan," Spock corrected. "I did not contribute."

"We could trap them in a Turbolift," Kirk offered.

McCoy held up a palm. "First of all, not your most well-thought-out plan, Jim. Second of all, it's unnecessary, gentlemen, because I have fixed the situation. Leaving something as delicate as a budding romance in the hands of a Vulcan and a man married to a starship - not a risk I'm willing to take."

"Oh? And did you decide this before or after your divorce, Bones?"

"Ouch." McCoy cringed exaggeratedly and took a seat next to his Captain. "Just let it be, Jim. Just let it be."

"Very well... but if by this time tomorrow, they haven't..." he glanced over at Spock, who shook his head disapprovingly. "If they haven't... explored... the _birds and the bees_, then I'm taking matters into my own hands. And locking them in a Turbolift."

"Fine. But I think your plan will be moot around... oh, I'd say... 2100 hours."

"This is fascinating," Spock murmured, "but I believe I should return to the _Enterprise _to check up on the crew's operations."

"Oh no Spock, you're staying right here," Kirk ordered. "There is nothing happening aboard the _Enterprise _half as exciting as this."

Chakotay looked up as Kathryn emerged f

* * *

><p>rom her Ready Room and moved to take her seat next to his. His hands immediately grew sweaty and he wiped them on his thighs.<p>

She had been in there for hours, which left him with ample time to prepare his move. He had been mentally practicing his speech for the entire duty shift.

_Kathryn – no, no. I need to keep it professional. Captain Janway – no; too professional. Captain, would you like to join me for supper? Supper?! Who says that? _In his mind he was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, all waiting silently to ridicule the words that were about to come out of his mouth. He couldn't get them out of his mind, and he could feel the pressure building.

He started over again. _Captain, you would like to join me for dinner? Escort me to the mess hall? Accompany me to the replicator? Participate in the consumption of nutrients to keep our bodies working at peak efficiency? _

The crowd inside his head roared with laughter. Chakotay swallowed and pushed Seven out of his mind. _Just ask her to join you for dinner, _he instructed himself. _This shouldn't be that difficult. We have dinner all of the time. _

He looked at her and braced himself, but Kathryn spoke first.

"Would you like to have dinner tonight? My quarters... 1900 hours?"

His mouth gaped, but he recovered quickly.. "_My _quarters. 1800 hours."

She smiled. "It's a date!"

The crowd cheered.

"B'Elanna!" Tom called as he walked into their quarters.

"Tom!" his wife called back from somewhere inside, obviously not moving to greet him.

He found her sitting on the couch, a bowl of popcorn resting on her pregnant belly. "B'Elanna, you're not going to believe this."

"What happened, flyboy?"

"Captain Janeway and Chakotay are going on a date."

"Oh yeah?" she asked, bemused. She humored him, "Where are they going?"

"They're having dinner in his quarters."

"That's not a _date, _Tom. That's like... every other night for them."

"But I heard the Captain, and she said, 'It's a date!'"

"That's just the Captain." B'Elanna rolled her eyes and laughed at Tom's ridiculousness, but then a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute... Tom... you don't suppose...?"

It had occurred to Tom already. "Exactly. In two days nothing that happened will have happened so... you know... why the hell not?"

B'Elanna removed the popcorn from her belly and set it on the couch, extending an arm to Tom. He helped her up. "Well, what are we waiting for? Go get Harry!"

Tom grinned boyishly and pulled his wife's lips to his. "This... this is why I married you."

* * *

><p>The door chirped and Chakotay jumped. "Come in!"<p>

His heart was racing, and he had no idea why. _Calm down, Chakotay, _he chided himself. _It's just dinner. _He looked at the rose that was on the table and considered hiding it. It was too much.

Before he could remove it, the doors slid open.

It was Kathryn. She was still in uniform, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost changed out of his, but he didn't want to escalate the tension. He wasn't sure what she was expecting. Heck, he wasn't even sure what _he _was expecting. He had kept his uniform on just in case this really was just their standard lets-go-over-the-latest-news kind of dinner.

"You look beautiful," he said, his voice awkwardly low. The words surprised him. They had just slipped out. She did look beautiful, she always looked beautiful, but it was a strange way to begin their night. Especially since she was still in uniform and her appearance hadn't changed all day. She cocked her head and let out slight giggle, apparently unaffected by his gracelessness.

"Well... thank you. So do you."

"I... well, here you go," he said, handing her the rose that was sitting on the table.

"Oh," she gushed. "Thank you, Commander." He grimaced at the use of his rank. Perhaps this _was_ just a standard dinner meeting. But as he watched her shift her weight between her feet nervously, he regained hope.

"I tried to replicate our favorite meal from back on New Earth, but none of the native vegetables were in the computer's database." He took a deep breath. Why was he so nervous? "I tried, but..." he looked at his feet. "It's kind of absolutely terrible."

Kathryn let out a hearty laugh, and the whole atmosphere of the room lightened. "It can't be that bad, Chakotay. You're an excellent cook."

"With actual ingredients, perhaps," he smiled.

"Let me try it." She sat down and he went to grab their meals. He had lit a candle and placed it in the middle of the table, and the flickering light accentuated her loveliness. He shook his head to forced himself not to stare.

Kathryn placed the flower in one of the cups of water, and moved to open the bottle of Antarian cider he had set out. "The good stuff," she mumbled, pouring them each a glass.

"For you? Always." Chakotay, against his better judgment, set down their plates. "All right, but don't say I didn't warn you."

He watched silently as Kathryn took a bite. Her dissatisfaction read clear across her face, but she fought to suppress it. He laughed. "Horrible, isn't it?"

Kathryn wiped her mouth with a napkin. "It's not horrible… it's just... not like I remember it."

"It's horrible," he said. They both laughed. Immediately all of the tension melted away and it was just them in the room: just Kathryn and Chakotay, once-upon-a-time lovers, current best friends, future... well, that would one day be decided. But not tonight.

"Did you have a Plan B?" she asked.

"No..." he admitted. "But I think I can come up with one."

"You're always quick on your feet," Kathryn agreed.

* * *

><p>"They're not coming out," Harry whispered. "Let's go."<p>

"They're definitely coming out," Tom assured him.

"Yeah, they're not going to spend their first and only night of freedom cooped up in Chakotay's quarters," B'Elanna said. "It's stuffy in there."

"Well, perhaps what they're doing requires some level of... privacy," Harry offered.

"Whoa, Starfleet, get your mind out of the gutter," B'Elanna scolded. "Why do you have to go there?"

"B'Elanna. C'mon. You know that's how the night's going to end," Tom said.

"I can't do this. That's the Captain and the Commander in there guys, not some random ensigns! I can't spy on them."

"Harry, shut up. Look! The doors are opening!" Tom said excitedly. The three of them shuffled into position. "Be cool guys, be cool," he said under his breath.

The command team approached. "Is there some kind of party going on here, officers?" Captain Janeway asked, arms crossed.

"Just fixing this plasma relay," B'Elanna said casually, tinkering with the panel on the wall.

"Since when does it take three senior officers to do ensign-level repair work?" the Commander asked.

"Oh, I've heard this one before," Tom said with mock offense. "How many senior officers does it take to fix a plasma relay? Well, I'll have you know, my very pregnant wife is doing the best she can. Sure, her brain is a little scrambled right now, but she's still the chief engineer aboard this ship, and if she needs a little extra assistance here and there, I say we give it to her."

Tom could feel the heat of the steam radiating off of B'Elanna from where he stood, and he didn't dare make eye-contact with her. Instead he kept his confident eyes locked with Chakotay's.

"Whatever it is you people are up to," Captain Janeway said, exasperated, "just don't break my ship. Okay? Okay." She grabbed Chakotay's arm and eagerly steered him down the corridor.

The moment they were out of sight B'Elanna attacked. "Tom!" she hissed. "I am _not _scrambled! I could _construct _a plasma relay in my sleep. And if I _did_ need help fixing a relay, or screwing in a light-bulb for that matter, you two fools would be the _last _crewmen aboard I would ask to assist me!" She slapped her husband's arm.

"Owww," he whined. "I know, sweetie. I just needed to get them off our scent. You're not going to be pregnant forever, we need to play it up while it lasts."

"He's right, B'Elanna." She growled at Harry, and he silenced.

"Let's just get moving before we lose them, okay?" she said, walking off in the direction of the assumed-lovebirds.

* * *

><p><em>There she is, <em>he thought. The nurse was sitting in the corner of the mess hall, eating whatever Neelix had concocted, with the two young Bilstreecans. She stuck out like a sore thumb with her baby blue uniform and bright blonde hair. She looked beautiful. The Doctor gathered himself and approached the table.

"Good evening, Nurse Chapel," the EMH greeted with Starfleet professionalism, extending his hand.

"I told you, Doctor, you can call me Christine," she said, shaking the proffered hand and stifling a laugh at his seriousness.

"Good evening... Christine."

"Would you like to join us?" she asked, pulling out a chair for him.

"I would be delighted to." He sat down and looked around the room. The mess hall was being to clear out so Neelix could clean up for the night. _I should have come sooner, _he chastised himself. He had been too busy deciding what to wear. He had settled on a Hawaiian t-shirt when he remembered that women often went for a man in uniform.

"We're almost done here, and the children were wondering if we might get a tour of the ship?" He smiled; it wasn't over yet!

"You came to the right hologram," he said, beaming. "I know _Voyager _inside and out!"

Teerik and Leeka clapped their hands in delight. "We have never been on a vessel of this size," Teerik informed the Doctor.

"Well, in terms of Federation starships, _Voyager _is actually quite small."

"Can we leave right now, Christeene?" Leeka asked impatiently.

"Sure," the nurse smiled at the children. Her fondness for them was obvious.

The Doctor extended his arm and she shyly wrapped hers around it. "Let's go. I know just where to start."

* * *

><p>"Does Neelix know we're in here?" Kathryn asked, her voice a whisper.<p>

"No," he replied, his voice a normal volume. "That he does not…"

"Shhhh. Keep your voice down. We can't just steal his vegetables!" she whispered nervously.

"You're the Captain. This is your ship. You can do whatever you want." He was picking up samples of everything except Leola root. "Besides, in two days, it'll all be replaced!"

"Shhhh," she whispered again. "I think I hear something."

"Why are you so nervous?" he chuckled, highly amused by her behavior.

"Lights off," she commanded the computer. "Hide!"

"What are you doing? Is this a ploy to get us in the dark?"

"Commander, _be quiet,_" she ordered as she pulled him down behind a counter, almost on top of her. Their faces were centimeters away from each other. She looked even more beautiful in the dim light that the stars provided than in the flickering light of the candle. Her eyes were searching his, and he strained to listen for the noise she claimed she heard. He heard nothing. It _was _a ploy, he decided, a grin sweeping his face. _Very coy, Kathryn. _

He lifted his hand and gently caressed her cheek and she blushed, covering his hand with her own. Chakotay felt his heart quicken again. He leaned in slowly, giving her time to pull away if he was moving too fast, but Kathryn didn't pull away. The heat of his breath found her lips and Kathryn closed her eyes. Her lips parted, ready to receive his.

Then the doors swooshed open and the lights re-activated.

Their heads flew back so fast that Chakotay was momentarily worried they might have dual cases of whiplash.

"This is the hydroponics bay," The Doctor's animated voice filled the room. "Neelix grows all kinds of vegetables here."

Chakotay grinned, more than amused with the entire situation, but Kathryn pressed her eyelids together and pulled her legs up to her chest, silently pleading that whatever was happening in the doorway not come in any further.

"Very impressive," a female cooed. Chakotay didn't recognize the voice, but Kathryn's eyes popped open and he realized she did.

"What kind of vegetables do you grow?" a young voice, presumably one of the children, asked.

"Well, I'm a doctor, not a farmer;_ I_ don't grow them. But let me show you what Neelix has in here." They could hear his voice growing closer. Chakotay's stomach tightened. How was he going to recover the evening after the group found the Command team huddled up together in the dark?

His footsteps suddenly ceased. "Coming!" he shouted abruptly. He hurriedly exited the room and the doors swooshed closed again. Kathryn let out a deep breath and swatted Chakotay on the arm.

"Commander! We were almost caught!"

Chakotay chuckled and helped her up. "But we weren't. Who was The Doctor with?"

"Nurse Chapel," she shrugged. "He shouldn't be taking her around the ship. I am pretty sure I made this clear at least twenty times, have I not?"

"You have. But I think The Doctor's on… a date."

"What!? With McCoy's nurse? That's not going to go over well."

"I don't know. He was acting strange this morning when I went in to be cleared for duty. He asked about 'human courting rituals.'"

"Oh yeah? And you didn't tell him that stealing produce was a good way to start, did you?" she asked playfully. He smiled.

"It worked for Aladdin and Princess Jasmine," he countered.

"I'm not even going to ask," she said, heading for the door. "Can we please get out of here?"

"I just need a few more tomatoes."

* * *

><p>"What are they doing in hydroponics?" Tom asked.<p>

"I don't know," Harry replied. "Looking at the plants?"

"That's absurd, Starfleet. Why would they be looking at the plants?" The half-Klingon rolled her eyes.

"Oh my god. Look. The Doctor and a hot blonde and those alien kids are going inside!" Harry said, shaking Tom.

"I have eyes, Harry! Get off of me. We have to distract them. They can't ruin whatever the hell is going on in there."

Harry and Tom both looked at B'Elanna.

"What?" she asked apprehensively. "Do you want me to go into labor right here in the hallway?"

"No…" Harry began gently. "We want you to go into _fake _labor right here in the hallway."

"Forget it, one of you needs to be the distraction."

They watched as The Doctor started to enter the room. Panic washed over the spying trio.

"Ahhh!" B'Elanna shouted suddenly, doubling over and wrapping her arms around her stomach. "Help!"

Tom and Harry looked at each other and grinned. "Is there a doctor in the house?" Tom yelled.

"Coming!" they heard him yell from inside the room. He came out and rounded the corner, followed by his tour group. "Lt. Torres, what's wrong?"

"I think the baby's coming," B'Elanna said, bent over, panting.

The Doctor grabbed a tricorder from his belt and ran it over her. She sighed and stood back up, pulling at her jacket. Her breathing returned to normal. "Nevermind. False alarm." The Doctor continued to scan her.

"You're not going into labor, B'Elanna," he said, putting the tricorder away. "And some degree of discomfort, rather, a _large _degree of discomfort, is to be expected during pregnancy. Especially these last few weeks. I suggest you don't panic every time you feel a slight amount of pain."

"Of course, Doctor," she said through clenched teeth, steam once again rising from her skin.

"Well," the EMH said, turning his focus back to the group. "There's not much to see in hydroponics. Let's move on to Astrometrics.

Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry watched silently as the tour group strolled off.

B'Elanna, once again, slapped her husband. "I can handle pain," she seethed. "I'm a Klingon."

"Owwww," he whined again, more exaggerated this time. "You're going to leave a bruise! At least switch arms or aim for a different body part next time." The engineer's eyes meandered downward. "No," he stepped away from her, "_not _there."

"We know you can handle pain, B'Elanna," Harry soothed. "But remember, you just saved Captain Janeway and the Commander's date!"

"Next time, I swear, it's your turn."

"Okay, honey," Tom agreed, wrapping his arm around her. "Quick, get behind the corner, they're coming out!"

Tom peered around the corner and watched the Captain and Commander exit the room, hands full of vegetables. They headed the opposite direction and he breathed a sigh of relief; there was no plasma relay panel near them to use as cover. He watched as Captain Janeway momentarily laid her head on Chakotay's shoulder as they walked off towards their next destination, and Tom smiled.

"Does Neeli

* * *

><p>x know we're using his kitchen?"<p>

"Kathryn," he laughed. "Will you _relax_?"

She laughed with him, knowing how ridiculous she was being. Kathryn Janeway just wasn't one to be sneaking around her own ship.

"I'm relaxed," she said, breathing in the smell of the boiling vegetables. "This smells great." Her stomach rumbled. "And I'm starving."

"Much better than the food back in my quarters," he agreed.

"It was a valiant attempt, Chakotay," she offered as consolation. The thought behind the failed dinner warmed her; their memories from New Earth were as much on his mind as they were on hers. She knew this already, but somehow seeing the manifestation of it solidified their bond, in her mind.

Kathryn watched as he took a step back, looking at the food and she smiled at the not-so-distant memory. That was exactly how he always finished cooking: by taking a step back and admiring his masterpiece for a moment before they consumed it.

He fixed them each a plate. "This is significantly less romantic than my quarters," Chakotay said.

"I know; there's no candle. No rose." She followed him over to a table in the mess hall. "I surprised you stopped at one candle, Chakotay."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "I lit six," he admitted, sheepishly. "But I blew them out. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Good call. I _am _afraid of fire," she teased. His dimples flashed onto his face.

"I also replicated a dozen roses, not one."

"And what did you do with the other eleven?!" she asked, laughing. She thrust her fork into her plate and took a bite. It was delicious, and her grateful moan let him know as much. She continued to dig in, appeasing her steadily increasing appetite.

One of her appetites.

"They're still there," he smiled. "You can have the rest. I was just afraid they'd make you…"

Kathryn swallowed the food in her mouth. "Uncomfortable," she finished.

"I was afraid they'd make you think I had the wrong idea about tonight."

"And what idea was that?" she asked coyly. They had only thirty minutes before been millimeters away from locking lips. Any predispositions either of them might have had regarding tonight surely blew out the window during their vegetable heist.

"That... I was expecting more than polite conversation."

Kathryn played with her fork. A strange confidence washed over her, and she wasn't sure why. It was him that had opened the doors for their relationship on New Earth, and Kathryn figured it was her turn. "Well, I was expecting more than polite conversation," she looked up from her plate and her eyes twinkled. She bit her lip, her second appetite now steadily increasing. The corners of Chakotay's mouth lifted into a smile and he took her fork-less hand in his.

"Are you done?" he asked. Kathryn laughed. Chakotay hadn't even touched his food. He was ready for the next activity, giddy like a kid at Christmas.

"No, I am not _done_," she said, bemused at his impatience. "I'm finishing my food. And I suggest you do, too, Commander. We're going to need our strength."

He shoveled the food into his mouth, mainly for her entertainment. And then waited silently while she finished hers, trying to eat a little more attractively than he had. Finally, she set down her fork and he jumped up.

"Let's go," he said, almost bouncing towards the door. He twirled around and stopped. "Wait. Close your eyes."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "How are we going to explain that to crew members passing us by?"

"I know a quiet route," he said. "It'll take longer, but at this hour, we won't run into anybody."

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "A quiet route to what?"

"Obviously I'm not going to tell you. That's the point of a surprise."

"Fine. But if someone passes us, you better tell me."

* * *

><p>"Damn, they move fast," B'Elanna whispered as the doors to the mess hall opened again.<p>

Harry spun his head around, looking for a plasma relay. "Where do we go? They're coming right at us."

"Be cool, guys."

"Tom, that's not a plan," Harry growled.

Chakotay approached them slowly, a blind Captain Janeway on his arm; her eyes were closed and her lips were pursed together in defiance. B'Elanna and Tom looked at each other. The Commander made some threatening gestures to shoo them off, but remained silent – serving only to further puzzle the onlookers.

The trio echoed the Commander's silence and watched them, once again, walk off.

"Okay, he's on to us," B'Elanna said. "We need a better strategy."

"No need," Tom said, pulling her in the opposite direction. "I know where they're going. I helped Chakotay with this one myself."

* * *

><p>He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach. "Open your eyes," he whispered in her ear.<p>

She complied; he had brought them back, yet again, to New Earth. It wasn't exactly a surprise, and it wasn't exactly original, but Kathryn's mouth broke into a smile anyway.

"How perfect," she breathed, leaning into him. "We just keep coming full circle, don't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this is where our story began... in more ways than one. The first time we knew each other was here, in this place. All those years ago." It hadn't really been that long, but somehow it felt like decades had passed since their time here.

"'The first time we knew each other'?" Chakotay grinned. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

She chuckled. "It was an attempt to maintain a 'T' rating."

"Well, I think we're about to bump that rating up to an 'MA'," he said, pressing himself against her. She swatted his hand and smiled.

"_Anyway,_ a week ago this is exactly where we stood, peering at each other over the walls that keep us apart. This is exactly where we stood, just moments before the _Enterprise _decided to pay us a visit."

"Right... I had almost forgotten," Chakotay murmured thoughtfully, his mind drifting back to that conversation. Holding hands, looking at each other, saying nothing. And then, like always, she had turned and walked away. He pulled her tightly against him; she wasn't going anywhere tonight.

"That's when we'll be reset to," Kathryn sighed. "Moments after our encounter here."

"I wonder how our story will shape after that."

"Ours or _ours_?"

He understood. "You and I; I wonder how our lives are going to unfold in _that_ timeline."

"They're not, Chakotay," she said, turning to face him, but keeping their hands locked together. "On New Earth, the only reason we allowed ourselves to be swept up by..."

"Love?"

"Love," she repeated, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes at the earnestness in his voice. "It was only because we thought we were never going to see _Voyager _again. And now is no different. We'll never be together as long as we're on _Voyager_. Never."

Chakotay lowered his eyes and Kathryn silently chastised herself; was it really necessary she take a phaser, set it to kill, and aim it at his heart? Everything that had happened and was to happen would be erased. Why couldn't she let themselves just dream a little? What harm would it cause anybody? She let go of his hand and wandered into the house, rummaging through the storage boxes until she found what she was looking for: a blanket.

Kathryn re-emerged and smiled, throwing the blanket up and letting it flutter to the ground. She sat down upon it and patted the ground next to her. Chakotay sat down and smiled, but it was a weak attempt. Her comments had stung him, but she could tell he was determined not to let her ruin the moment.

"We'll never be together as long as we're on _Voyager_," she began again, her voice much softer this time. "But I don't plan to be on _Voyager _forever, Chakotay." A flash of hope lit up his eyes. "Eventually we're going to get back home, I know we are, and there is nothing I want more than to live the remainder of my earth-bound life with you. Sometimes... on particularly harsh nights after particularly rough days, I allow myself a moment or two to daydream about what life would be like with you, after we get home," she paused, gathering herself. She would never, ever be admitting his to him under normal circumstances. Knowing about the temporal anomaly was kind of like being handed a death notice; like The Doctor had informed them that they had but three days to live, and nothing else really mattered but each other. It was incredibly liberating. "I imagine that we live next to the ocean, or sometimes in a forest, or sometimes we live in San Francisco, right next to Starfleet Headquarters." He rolled his eyes at the last one, but the grateful smile on his face kept her talking. "Sometimes I imagine we have our own starship, and we do nothing, we answer to nobody, we just sail off into the stars and chart our own course. Sometimes I imagine we have children-"

"Children?" Chakotay choked, his eyes growing wide.

"Yes," she grinned. "Two girls and a boy." He shook his head in a mixture of disbelief and awe, and laid down on the blanket, a faraway look in his eyes as he stared up at the holographic stars. He pulled Kathryn down next to him.

"Keep talking," he softly begged. She snuggled up to his body and gazed up at the stars with him. Somewhere out there in cosmos was their home; their future.

"The girls are twins, and we get started on the act of procreation the moment the welcome-home ceremonies cease. We're not getting any younger, you know," she joked, running a finger over one of his stray gray hairs. "And we adopt the boy. The girls, they look just like you, with dark hair and caramel skin and dimples and gorgeous brown eyes." His grin faded and his eyebrows furrowed.

"No, no," he murmured. "That's not right. I want them to have your fiery red hair and those tantalizing, piercing blue eyes that can stop anybody in their tracks." He tousled her hair with his fingers. "I want them to have your soft, porcelain skin." He lifted himself up and ran his lips up her arm. Her whole body shuddered. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard.

"The boy," she whispered, trying to continue her - their - fantasy, "the boy is Andorian, and- and-"

Chakotay stopped exploring her arm with his mouth. "Andorian?"

"Mmmhmm," she replied, her body still trembling from their closeness.

"Why Andorian?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him quizzically. "Does it matter?"

"Well, no, but..."

She sat up, put on her best serious face, and narrowed her eyes accusingly at him. "Commander, are you trying to tell me that you don't love our son because he's_ blue_?"

_Our son._ Something about the way she had said it such authority and finality made them both stop, overcome with emotion. Chakotay's eyes searched her face and Kathryn's hand found the base of his neck, aggressively pulling his mouth to hers.

Dr. McCoy idly tapped his fingers on the table and sighed. "W

* * *

><p>here do you suppose the Captain and Chakotay are?" he asked. The command team had wandered off around 1800 hours and had yet to be seen or heard from since. Dinner couldn't have taken this long.<p>

"Where do you _think _they are, Bones?" Kirk replied, cocking his head with mock curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"I find your lack of insight into the actions of humans unnerving, Doctor," Spock replied. "Computer, locate Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay."

"_Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay are located in Holodeck Two." _

Kirk smiled. "Good job, Commander."

"What's a holodeck?" McCoy asked.

"I have absolutely no idea, but it sounds romantic."

Spock cocked his head at his friends and let out an almost undetectable, exasperated sigh. "A holodeck is, logically, exactly what its name suggests."

"You mean a deck full of holoemitters?"

"Precisely."

"So… theoretically… you could create any scene you wanted? You don't suppose they're…?" McCoy trailed off, realization slowly sweeping over him. A satisfied grin found his lips.

"No, no, nothing like that, Bones. I'm sure they're running a temporal anomaly simulation; making sure they're ready for our grand send-off." McCoy scoffed and rolled his eyes.

The doctor rubbed his palms together. "These holodecks sound interesting."

"Might be a fun way to pass the time?" Kirk offered.

"We are over-due for our shore leave," McCoy agreed.

"There is no one else in the room, gentlemen. I see no logic behind your speaking in code. You both want to covertly observe the actions of the Captain and Commander to ascertain if your theories about their behavior are accurate. Why do you not just say this?"

Kirk sighed. "I guess it makes us feel better, Spock. Let's go."

"I do not wish to spy on them."

"Dammit, you pointy-eared bastard, you're coming."

* * *

><p>They grabbed at each other like animals; insatiable hunger coursing through their veins. Kathryn and Chakotay were trying to make it back inside the shelter, back to the bed where it first began, but their passion was threatening to consume them before they got there. Kathryn violently ripped off his shirt and his fingers fumbled over her bra. He pressed her up against the wall, sinking his mouth into hers, trying to un-do the clasp.<p>

There was just a few more feet between them and the bed. She weakly pushed him away and made her way to it, but he forcefully picked her up and brought her the remainder of the way, setting her on the bed and jumping on top of her. She squirmed between his legs in delight, and he continued to fumble with her bra, trying to get it off. Impatiently she ripped it off for him and moved to unbutton her pants, almost breaking the clasp in her rush to do so.

Their first time hadn't been nearly as aggressive. It had been tender, and sweet. They were Starfleet-bred explorers, and had taken the time to explore, in depth, their new lover, gently and cautiously. Taking time to gather all the data they needed before penetrating the nebula. It was the cumulation of three days of tension after Chakotay's "Angry Warrior" parable.

_This _was the cumulation of _years_ of repressed and denied desire, exploding between them like a photon torpedo.

"Did you create a holo-pr

* * *

><p>ogram for them?" B'Elanna asked her husband. He had never mentioned anything about it, but Tom seemed to intuitively know where they were going and why. Sure enough, the three of them had arrived just in time to watch Chakotay guide a still-blinded Captain Janeway into Holodeck Two.<p>

"No…" he began, his mind somewhere faraway. "Well, kind of." He sighed. He had never told anyone, not even B'Elanna. He had respected their privacy, but there didn't seem much of a reason to keep it to himself anymore. "After we saved them…" he swallowed and started again. "After we brought them back to _Voyager, _Chakotay asked for my help. He wanted to recreate their shelter and environment on New Earth. I thought it was odd, I figured… _we_ had just spent three months making ourselves sick trying to find a way to rescue them, and now he wants to go back? But Chakotay must have assumed what I was thinking, because he told me that they were grateful to be back but that him and the Captain had enjoyed the break from space. He said after a while it became like an extended shore leave. He left it at that but… I don't know… he looked... sad, I guess. And after we were done programming it, he dismissed me and continued to work on it alone. I felt like there was something he wanted to program in that he didn't want me to see, and then he locked it so only he could open the file.

"He never asked me to keep it a secret, I just…. felt like I had gotten too close to something I wasn't supposed to see. So I never mentioned it again."

"Oh man…" B'Elanna breathed. "I never… When they came back from New Earth, they were so _cold _to each other. If anything, I guess I assumed that they didn't get along."

"I kind of thought the same thing," Harry mused. "Before they were quarantined there, they used to laugh on the Bridge and touch each other. Platonically, of course, but she used to touch his chest and he would place his hand on the small of her back, guiding her around. When they returned… they hardly even looked at each other."

"I know," Tom said, sadly. "I guess we'll never know what happened between them." He pulled B'Elanna close and kissed her head. "I love you, you know. I can't imagine not being allowed to love you."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I love you, too, Flyboy" she whispered.

* * *

><p>"What is that computer program doing with my nurse?!" McCoy gasped.<p>

Spock brought his hands together behind his back. "It would appear he is giving the guests a tour of the ship."

"No, it would _appear _that he is trying to get into—"

"Doctor, doctor," Kirk interrupted. "He's a hologram. What's he going to do to her?"

"You don't know this guy like I do, he's trouble," he huffed.

"Well, then Captain Janeway and I have something else in common: a medical staff with an unerring desire to cause a ruckus."

"He's taking her to one of those holodecks," McCoy snarled. "We have to get her back aboard the _Enterprise."_

"She's an adult, Bones. Leave her alone."

Captain Kirk almost walked right into _Voyager_'s chief engineer as they rounded the final corner. The three officers scrambled nervously. Kirk gulped and felt his heart rate quicken.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. We were just… um…" Kirk stammered.

"No, no, we were just… fixing plasma relays," the ensign forced out. Kirk couldn't remember his name.

"Oh, yes. Good luck. Must be a pretty big problem if you're all working this late… If you need extra hands, feel free to summon Mr. Scott. I'm sure he's dying of boredom over there," he smiled. The trio looked like they weren't sure whether or not to believe what Kirk was saying, which baffled the Captain. Of course Scotty would want to help. "We were… we're lost. We're just trying to find our quarters. I guess these halls are more of a maze than we thought."

The doors to the holodeck opened and all six of them forgot their cover stories, instinctively pressing themselves around the corner, trying to peer out and catch sight of the Captain and Commander.

* * *

><p>He led them everywhere, pausing every so often to check if they were bored. The last thing he wanted to do was bore the nurse. But the three of them each seemed equally amused at his tour. He showed them the hydroponcis bay, Astrometrics, the Bridge, currently under the command of Tuvok, Engineering, and he had saved the best for last.<p>

"And these are the holodecks," he informed them. "You'll love this. Let me show you what they can do," he said as he approached the panel in front of Holodeck One; Holodeck Two was occupied. Odd, for this time of night. The EMH thought of what might entertain them. _Captain Proton, _he decided as the doors next to them opened.

A very sweaty command team emerged, their uniforms sticking to their bodies, their breathing strained, their hair darkened with moisture. The Doctor, the nurse, and the two children looked at them incredulously and the wide-eyed Captain stammered.

"Velocity," Commander Chakotay chimed, trying to catch his breath. "We were playing Velocity... Very intense game... I won."

Captain Janeway, standing next to him, placed her hands on her hips and muttered something under her breath. Human ears would not have detected it, but the Doctor heard her clearly. _In your dreams, _she said.

The Doctor folded his arms in front of him. "It's pretty late for such a work-out."

"It was a very… quick game, Doctor," the captain replied. She clucked her tongue. "Very quick."

Chakotay fought to suppress his dimples. "Perhaps, Captain, if you allowed us to play more often, the game wouldn't be over as quickly."

The Doctor nodded. "I see. Well. Now I know what you had in mind, Commander, when you wanted to be cleared for any... 'strenuous activity.'"

Kathryn whirled her head to look at Chakotay, eyebrows raised, and stifled a chuckle, but Chakotay's complexion reddened and he narrowed his eyes at the EMH.

"And I see what _you_ had in mind, Doctor, when you were asking about-"

"Thank you for your help, Commander," The Doctor interrupted quickly. "Now might I suggest you and the Captain go drink some cold water? Or a shower, perhaps?"

"Or a bath!" the captain exclaimed. "Great idea, Doctor. We must smell terrible," she smiled.

Chakotay gave the group a half-hearted grin and they both walked off. The Doctor could hear the sounds of their laughter from a distance.

"Anyway," he continued. "These are the holodecks. If you—"

McCoy appeared out of nowhere and pointed a finger in his face. "What the hell are your intentions with my head nurse?"

"Dr. McCoy, he's just giving us a tour," Nurse Chapel said, stepping between them.

"The hell he is…"

"Captain Proton?" another voice asked. Tom Paris. "No way. I don't trust you in there."

The Doctor looked around him. The previously vacant halls were now filled with nothing short of a mob scene. Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Spock. Lieutenants Paris and Torres, Ensign Kim. Where did they all come from? Was he being followed?

"I know my day-to-day existence is fascinating, but you could just ask. You don't need to sneak around the halls like juvenile delinquents, spying on me."

All six of them looked at each other guiltily. "You're right, Doc," Lieutenant Paris said. "I'm sorry, Doc. We didn't mean to spy. I'll run extra labs for you tomorrow, to make it up to you. We won't do it again." Paris clicked the panel and switched the program. "Try Sandrine's," he offered. "But stay away from Captain Proton."

"Who's Captain Proton?" Captain Kirk asked as the mob walked off.

Tom smiled mischievously. "Meet me back here at 0700 tomorrow, Captain."

"I wish this didn't have to end," Kathryn said, running her hands through the bubbles.

* * *

><p>"We do fit a lot better in this bathtub than in that wooden one." They both laughed, remembering how awkwardly their bodies were smashed together, but how stubbornly they had insisted on remaining in the water.<p>

"I loved that bathtub. But that's not what I mean. I wish we didn't have to..."

"Go back to sleeping in different quarters."

"Yes."

Chakotay pushed down a rise of emotion, and kissed the back of her head.

"You were in here with Q once, weren't you?"

Kathryn grinned. "A time or two. Are you jealous?"

"Overwhelmingly."

She laughed and ran her toes over his leg, suddenly overcome by desire once again.

"Maybe we're almost home," she said, her voice marked with hope.

"Maybe."

"Promise me you'll never leave me?" she asked. The words and the vulnerability behind them surprised him; not only was it out of character for her, but he had made the same request of her once. She had promised never to leave him. And then she did.

"Where would I go?" he echoed her original response. "Live with the monkey?"

She grinned. "I don't know. Maybe run off with Seven of Nine?"

"That's ridiculous," he chuckled.

"Just promise."

"I promise," Chakotay assured. Kathryn sighed and kissed his shoulder. He pulled her close. "Tell me more about our children."

"Well... What do you want to know?"

He shrugged. "Tell me about their personalities."

"The Andorian-"

"I don't understand why he's Andorian."

Kathryn laughed, "You're really hung up on this, aren't you?"

"It's just so... random. But go on."

"He's going to be a scientist or something brilliant. He'll join Starfleet and-" Kathryn was cut off by his lips smothering hers.

Apparently it didn't take much. She turned into him and let the bubbles spill over onto the floor.

This time they didn't make the attempt to return to the bed.


	17. Chapter 16: This is It

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN:**

**THIS IS IT**

Chakotay stood over her, completely mesmerized by the gentle rising and falling of her chest under the blanket. He could watch her sleep forever; he could lose himself in the sound of her breathing, in the relaxed openness that was spread across her features. She was there, completely vulnerable and completely his. He would never let himself forget how perfect she looked this morning.

Of course, he_ was_ going to forget.

Chakotay sighed, then leaned over and kissed the tip of her nose. She scrunched it up in response and he chuckled quietly. "Good morning, Captain," he whispered in her ear.

She brushed him away with a smile, his warm breath tickling her skin. "Five more minutes, Commander."

He smiled. For better or worse, he was totally familiarized with her routine and it had been… _years _since he had known her to sleep in so late. Five years, in fact. "We're late for our duty shift, Kathryn."

"What?" she asked groggily, opening her eyes to look at him. She pushed herself up. "What time is it?"

"0930," he replied.

Kathryn gasped and pushed the blankets off of her, her eyes running rapidly over her immediate surroundings, over his uniform, and settling on the tray in his hands.

Chakotay grinned and held it out to her. "I made breakfast."

Kathryn paused, torn between desire and necessity. She wanted to stay in bed all morning – possibly pouring the maple syrup that sat on his tray on more than just the waffles – but she needed to get to the bridge.

He laughed at the conflict that flashed over her face. "I've already covered our tracks," he assured, settling onto the bed next to her. "They think we're on the _Enterprise._" He set the tray on her lap and kissed her cheek. "You look beautiful, by the way."

She laughed, which made his heart rise to the ceiling and just made her even more beautiful. She pressed her hands to her cheeks, "All my make-up is gone."

He kissed her again. "You're beautiful. I want to tell you that every day."

"You're biased."

"That's true."

"We have to get to the bridge," she said quietly, not moving away from him.

He could tell she had already decided to stay, but she needed to feel like it was his idea, not hers. He had no problem being her excuse. "This is our last day together, and tomorrow… no one will know we were ever late. They think we're on the _Enterprise _anyway…" he said, running a hand through her silky hair.

Kathryn bit her lip, pretending to consider the situation. "Five minutes," she said. "We can stay here for…" He covered her mouth with his own, smiling profusely as she attempted to speak around his tongue.

…

"A betting pool? On your captain's personal life?"

Tom shifted nervously, suddenly utterly aware of the conversation he was having and who he was having it with. "It's not like it sounds," he stammered.

Captain Kirk broke into a grin and placed a hand on Tom's shoulder. "We're in. But how do we know if we won?"

He paused, considering. "Well, on the off chance things don't go as planned later today, Spock will be around, hopefully, when we return to the Alpha Quadrant. He can collect your winnings."

McCoy looked up from the paper maps he was studying. "Where is that damn Vulcan?"

Tom shrugged. "He said he had more important things to attend to."

"Of course he did," Kirk smiled. "All right, Bones? What's our bet?"

"I think it's moot," McCoy replied. "I think…. _it _already happened. Last night. In the holoroom"

"It's a holodeck," the captain corrected.

Tom stifled a laugh. "We're talking about their public declaration."

"Hmmm…. all right," Kirk mused thoughtfully. "I bet they'll publically declare their love by the end of the chapter."

McCoy's eyebrows shot up. "The end of _this _chapter?"

Kirk nodded. "Yes, why not?"

"It just seems like that would be the climax of the story, and I'm not sure if we're there yet."

"You just don't want to go home, doctor," Kirk said, his voice laced with understanding. "You don't want to the story to be over."

McCoy thought about it for a moment and then waved his hand in agreement; Jim could always see right through him. "All right, Mr. Paris. Put us down for… oh, say… 1600 hours, tonight?"

Tom nodded slowly, straining to analyze and interpret the code they seemed to be talking in. _The end of the chapter? _

"Where were we, Lieutenant Paris? Who am I again?" asked Kirk, once again staring around at the monochromatic scene, breaking through Tom's thoughts.

He forced himself to focus. "You're Captain Proton, and Dr. McCoy is Buster Kincaid, Captain Proton's trusty sidekick."

McCoy stepped up. "Right, that's where I have an issue. He always gets to be the captain; I think we should switch roles."

Tom nodded in dismissive agreement, simply eager to start the holoprogram. "All right, Dr. McCoy, you can be Captain Proton."

Kirk held up his hand. "Wait, wait, wait. Bones, I'm afraid you lack the command experience necessary to take this mission."

"It's a _game, _Jim, you don't need experience."

Tom was about to protest – Captain Proton was _not _a _game – _but Kirk spoke first, "The point of a game, doctor, is to win. You cannot win a command simulation without command training."

McCoy crossed his arms. "This isn't the Kobayashi Maru. We're not being graded."

"We're always being graded, Bones. You're the sidekick."

"I'm a doctor, not a sidekick," he mumbled.

Kirk walked around, examining the frozen frame. He stopped in front of Satan's Robot. "Is this the source of the threat?"

"The robot is just a servant to Dr. Chaotica, the real bad guy. Right now he's at war with aliens from the Fifth Dimension."

"Where's the fifth dimension?"

"We don't know," Tom replied.

McCoy smirked. "Is there some sort of damsel in distress we're supposed to be saving, here? That would really get Captain Proton riled up."

Kirk whirled his head around. "Is there a damsel in distress? Perhaps we could get Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay in here. Perhaps… expedite their public declaration."

Tom laughed and shook his head. "Don't count on it, the captain was in here once before as the queen of the Spider People. Needless to say, she won't be back for more."

"That's a shame," Kirk sighed. "It would have been the perfect set-up. He saves her, she falls in love with him, they walk off into the black and white sunset…"

McCoy nudged Tom with his elbow and rolled his eyes. "The man's a hopeless romantic."

…

Seven of Nine peered at the captain intently. "Your appearance… it has been altered."

Janeway's fingers instinctively brushed through her hair, trying to decide what she did differently this morning. Well, besides the obvious. She suppressed a smile.

"What she means, Captain, is that you're glowing," Harry said.

She turned her head to hide the blush that crept over her cheeks and tried in vain to compose her giddiness. "Thank you, Harry. You two have everything under control here, I see." She motioned to the giant screen in Astrometrics. "Call me if there is the slightest change in your readings. And you have full discretion, Seven; pull any additional crewmembers you need."

"Ensign Kim is sufficient," she responded.

Harry beamed.

"That's high praise coming from a Borg," Kathryn smiled. "Keep up the good work."

She shot them another smile as she left the room, trying to keep her feet on the ground. She should go talk to B'Elanna; it felt like someone had altered the artificial gravity. Or deleted it.

Kathryn strolled into Engineering and stopped in front of the warp core, suddenly captivated by the brilliant swirling blue pulses.

B'Elanna approached her slowly. "Captain? Is there something I can do for you?"

Kathryn didn't take her eyes off of the warp core. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"The warp core?" she asked incredulously.

Kathryn offered a small smile and nodded. "The warp core, the ship, the universe." She swept her hand across the room. "Life."

B'Elanna grinned, almost certain she knew the cause of her captain's palpable jubilance. "It's beautiful." She drew in a sharp breath and placed her hand on her stomach. "This girl's wide awake today."

"May I?" asked Kathryn, timidly reaching out.

"Of course," she responded, excitedly taking Kathryn's hand and guiding it to the baby's movement.

B'Elanna didn't think it was possible for Janeway's smile to widen any further, but it did. "She likes you," she said, searching the captain's face.

Kathryn bowed her head slightly and looked the engineer's abdomen. "I like you, too," she whispered. "And I can't wait to meet you, so hurry up already."

B'Elanna felt her heart swell inside of her and blinked away the mistiness in her eyes. The captain had, of course, always been supportive and excited about the pregnancy, but never that openly, that personally.

Kathryn straightened and smiled at B'Elanna. "You're going to be a great mother."

B'Elanna's breath caught in her throat and the mistiness in her eyes quickly intensified as a rush of emotions hit her. Somehow, any reservations, any remnant traces of fear and apprehension she had about motherhood evaporated within her. It was exactly what she needed to hear, from exactly who she needed to hear it from.

The captain noticed the degree of her reaction, and her mouth quirked into a knowing smile. Kathryn pulled B'Elanna into an embrace, and B'Elanna clung to her, utterly aware of the rare gift that the embrace was. "Thank you, Captain," she said softly.

Kathryn tightened her hold and then released the engineer. "I'll let you get back to this beauty," she said, motioning to the warp core.

B'Elanna nodded, stunned, and watched the captain exit the room, a joyful bounce in her step.

She was only a few feet away from the door when she saw exactly who she needed to see, and she quickened her pace to catch up with him, slipping her hand into the nook of his arm.

"Can I have a minute, doctor?" she asked.

Dr. McCoy smiled. "For you? You can _whatever _you want."

"Good," she grinned, pulling him into an empty conference room. "I just want to say thank you, I honestly don't know how I could have gotten through the week without you."

"It was an honor, Captain."

"Kathryn," she corrected. "Call me Kathryn."

McCoy paused, then smiled. "We don't see enough of Kathryn."

"I agree. It's good to have her back." Her tone became serious, "Listen. I'm not a fan of good-byes. So I want to keep this brief but…" she inhaled, feeling her joy slipping into remorse.

The doctor shook his head and took her hand, and Kathryn was once again overwhelmed by her memories from twenty years ago, the first time he held her hand.

"This doesn't have to be good-bye. Time… it's a tapestry. Perhaps our threads will meet again one day."

She smiled. "Perhaps."

"We only have three more hours in this timeline, stop wasting it with me. Go find Chakotay."

Kathryn gave him a quick hug and nodded. Then she returned to her trek through the ship, forcing herself not to mourn the loss of Dr. McCoy. It was unnecessary; soon she wouldn't even know she missed him.

…

"We have to keep this from happening," B'Elanna said desperately.

"There's nothing we can do," Tom replied.

B'Elanna shook her head forcefully. "You don't understand. The captain… she was happy. And I don't mean just happy… I mean she was radiating ecstasy. I've never seen her like that. We can't let her lose her one chance at happiness."

"I know, B'Elanna. But there's nothing we can do. Everyone understands why the _Enterprise _has to go back. Remember? If it doesn't, the captain and commander might not have ever even met."

She growled. "This is so unfair."

He pulled her into him and kissed her forehead. "It is."

"They love each other."

"They do."

"And they're going to back to pretending like everything's okay, like they're not dying inside."

"They are."

She let out a heavy sigh. "Why are you so calm, flyboy?"

"Because when the timeline is reset… I'll still have you. And her," he said, resting a hand on her stomach. "And we'll still have our betting pool."

B'Elanna laughed and looked into his eyes. "The betting pool. I guess it's not over until it's over."

"It's not over 'til it's over," he repeated.

…

Chakotay filled the bath slowly, lost in a lifetime of memories. The joy inside of him lessened with every second; every second taking him closer to the end. He forced himself to stay in the moment, to keep himself locked into the present.

The holodeck doors opened and his anxiety dissolved as his eyes met hers. They smiled at each other.

"Just in time," he said.

"I'd say so," she said, eyeing the bath. She promptly began stripping down, and he chuckled. "What? We don't have time to waste."

"I agree," he replied, pulling his shirt over his head and kicking off his boots.

She climbed into the bathtub and plopped down, smiling at the scene. This was beautiful. He was beautiful. They were beautiful.

She settled against him as they found their old positions, pretzeled around each other, limbs sticking awkwardly out of the water. "You know, when you programmed the bathtub… you could have made it bigger."

Chakotay smiled. "I could have, but then it wouldn't have been our bathtub."

"Have you said your good-byes yet? To the _Enterprise _crew?"

He nodded. "I talked to Captain Kirk and Spock this morning. And B'Elanna requested permission to let Mr. Scott beam aboard so they could say good-bye; I hope you don't mind, I approved it."

"I don't mind. I spoke with Captain Kirk as well, and Dr. McCoy. That was difficult… but I think everyone is handling it well."

"Then you haven't visited sickbay… The Doctor is a wreck."

"Oh? He's torn up over losing Christine?"

Chakotay kissed the back of her head. "He told me his photonic heart was broken."

"Aww," she sighed wistfully, covering her heart with her hand. "How sweet."

"Mine isn't faring much better," he said quietly.

She brought his hands to her lips and kissed them. "Mine either. But let's not dwell on that. Let's just… enjoy our time, what we have left of it."

"If we remember what happened, I'm not going to let you retreat into your shell again."

Kathryn's retort died on her lips as she remembered their conversation the previous night. There was no way they would remember. It was _actually _impossible; therefore, completely unnecessary for her to guard her words. "If we remember what happened, I wouldn't try to."

"Really?" he asked, his voice marked with hope.

"Really," she assured. "We're here, we're together. I don't know about you, but I still feel like the captain. If we remember, I wouldn't try to push you away."

He was silent, letting himself be wrapped up in the impossible hope that this might not be the end of their road.

Hope never hurt anything.

Especially when the alternative was complete amnesia.

"_Bridge to the captain," _the intercom rang.

"Go ahead," she replied.

"_It's time," _Harry replied. _"We're picking up the verteron emanations, Captain." _

"Understood, Ensign Kim. I'll be right there. Janeway out."

Kathryn sighed and buried her nose in his neck, fighting the sting of tears.

"Go," he whispered. "I'll be right behind you." His voice cracked, and she pulled away, understanding. There was no reason to make this any harder than it had to be.

…

Captain Janeway looked over at Chakotay in the seat next to her. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears and she knew he dared not look at her, lest they spill over. She understood and she fought back the water rising in her own eyes, her body aching to touch his one last time. She focused back on the viewscreen in front of them.

The vortex was forming, almost wide enough to let the _Enterprise _through. The _Enterprise _was sitting, patiently, waiting for their cue. Janeway wondered what Captain Kirk was thinking. Probably the same thing she was: _I'll miss you, Captain. _

Of course, that wasn't exactly true. She wouldn't miss him; she'd have never known him. Janeway sighed and looked back over at Chakotay.

_I'll miss you too, Chakotay. _That was true, and would remain true; she always missed him. Even when he was standing right in front of her, she missed him. She had missed him every moment since they had returned from New Earth and she would never really know him again. She searched and studied his face. He still refused to return her stare and he blinked repeatedly, trying to force back the dam that was threatening to break.

"The vortex has opened to acceptable parameters," Ensign Kim informed them.

"Preparing the probe for launch," Tuvok reported.

Kathryn cleared her throat. "Signal the _Enterprise. _Let them know it's time."

Her crew complied and Janeway sat back in her chair, gripping her armrests so tightly her knuckles turned white. She couldn't help herself; she looked over at Chakotay yet again. _This is it, _she thought. _These are our last moments together. _And they couldn't even touch each other.

His glistening eyes were still fixed on the image of the _Enterprise _on the viewscreen, but he slowly opened his hand and laid it on top of hers. A pulse of desire coursed through her at this touch, and she turned her hand over and locked her fingers around his.

"The _Enterprise _has powered impulse engines. They're headed for the vortex," Tom narrated what they were seeing on the screen, his voice dripping with disappointment. He looked down at the chronometer. The time was 1559.

Janeway leaned back and closed her eyes. Chakotay let out a shaky sigh next to her and tightened his hold on her hand. Her reaction to him was involuntary; every atom in her body screamed for him. She opened her eyes and, without forethought, leaned across the console that separated him. Her mind had lost the battle, and her soul had won.

"I love you, Chakotay," she said, standing up.

He jerked his head around to look at her, but she pulled his lips to hers before he had the chance to respond. Stunned, he melted in his chair, letting his hands come up and tangle themselves in her hair. Then he stood up, pulling her against him, letting his body do the talking.

Tom fought to keep his eyes on his console, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face when he looked at the chronometer. 1600 hours – Kirk and McCoy had swooped in and won it all. He fought the urge to hail them and glanced back at Harry, surprised to find his friend's skin such a deep red.

All of the eyes on the bridge were glued to the command team.

The _Enterprise _was mere kilometers away from the vortex. No one had anything to lose; he stood up, drawing the attention of everyone except Janeway and Chakotay; it seemed they had, in their passionate explorations, forgotten anyone else existed. Slowly, he brought his hands up and started clapping, hoping the crew would follow his lead.

They did. Soon the room had erupted in applause and cheers, causing the command team to briefly break the link their mouths had created to smile. Their eyes never left each other.

Chakotay laughed, a deep, heartfelt laugh. The joy that coursed through the room was palpable. Kathryn covered her mouth and grinned, throwing her arms around her first officer, once again drawing his mouth again to hers.

"Sixty seconds," Tuvok updated. He was ignored. If it was their last sixty seconds in this timeline, no one was about to waste it monitoring their stations when they could be celebrating.

_Sixty seconds, _Tom thought, his mind racing frantically. He ran over to Harry's console and pushed him out of the way. "Bridge to all crewmen," he said, sending their video link to every communications console aboard _Voyager. _

It wasn't possible, but he could have sworn he heard the entire ship explode with applause.

Satisfied, he leaned back against the wall and soaked up their final seconds, wishing there was some way he could bring this unbridled happiness to the command team in every timeline.


	18. Chapter 17: The Best Laid Plans

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:**

**THE BEST LAID PLANS**

The confusion that swept across Uhura's face quickly melted into a wide smile, one hand cupping her ear piece and the other hiding her grin. She turned to her captain, forcing her face to remain temperate.

"Captain, we're receiving a transmission."

Captain Kirk clutched his armrests, intently staring into the threatening, swirling lights of the growing wormhole. He turned to Uhura, annoyed with _Voyager_'s interruption of his melancholy. "What do they want? Is something wrong?"

"I think you'll want to see this for yourself, Captain."

Kirk nodded sharply and turned back to the viewscreen, his irritation instantly vaporizing as the image of Captain Janeway and the commander flashed onto the screen. His heart swelled at the sight of them. His bridge could hear the applause coming from hers, and he laughed unexpectedly – a mixture of satisfaction and amusement dashing through him. This was a much better scene than the unnerving sight of the wormhole they were about to be sucked into… again.

"Keptin…" Chekov started, tilting his head at the image on the screen. "Vhat eez happening?"

"I believe we're witnessing a public declaration, Mr. Chekov," Kirk smiled. He hit the communications button on his armrest. "Bones, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"_I certainly am! Guess what time it is, Jim?"_

"What time, doctor?"

"_1600 hours on the dot. Tell Spock he's not getting a single credit from our winnings!"_

Kirk looked over at his first officer and laughed again as the Vulcan raised his eyebrows.

"Am I to understand that you and Dr. McCoy placed a bet on the personal lives of Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay?"

"It's not like it sounds, Spock…"

Spock nodded. "Fascinating. I shall remember that the next time I am made aware of a 'pool' based upon _your_," Spock cocked his head, "biological drives."

The grin on Kirk's face faded instantly. Chekov and Sulu exchanged a bemused look in front of him.

"Mr. Chekov? Mr. Sulu? Is there something you'd… like to share?"

"No, sir," Sulu replied, looking down.

"Mmhmmm," Kirk said, chuckling to himself, resigning that there was nothing he could do about it anyway. He looked back at the screen – the command team had only slightly changed positions, and continued to put on quite the show. Kirk watched them for a minute, his whole being captivated by their display. A single, poetically tragic thought coursed through his mind: _And they all lived happily ever after. _

The relaxation that had washed over him was replaced just as rapidly with unease, however, and he straightened abruptly; something was amiss. This was taking too long.

"Mr. Sulu, put the vortex back on the screen."

Sulu let out a small, disappointed sigh and switched back to the viewscreen. The image was frozen – the purple lights of the vortex were there, but they had stopped swirling.

Kirk stood up and looked at Spock, whose head was already buried in his scanner. "Mr. Spock? What's happening? Which is frozen, the viewscreen or the vortex?"

"Space itself seems to be frozen, Captain," he replied squarely, as if this was a commonplace occurrence. "The particles of space and time have come to a halt."

"How is that possible? Switch back to _Voyager_'s link, Mr. Sulu."

Sulu complied and the familiar romantic climax flashed back onto the screen. "They're not frozen," Kirk said, an odd mixture of dread and elation churning within him. Perhaps this meant they'd find another way home, and get to remain in this timeline. Of course, there was also the possibility that they would all… cease to exist. It wasn't a risk he was excited about taking. "Hail them."

"Not so fast," a voice bellowed.

Kirk spun around, searching for the source of the voice. The security detail on the bridge sprung to life, hands on their phasers.

"Over here, Captain," the voice called.

Kirk turned back towards the viewscreen, now filled a giant head. He was male and appeared to be human, a few years older than Kirk. He was wearing a golden Starfleet uniform, and Kirk's muscles loosened slightly; they must have returned to the Alpha Quadrant.

But… he remembered _Voyager. _He remembered everything.

Alarm erupted within him, but he didn't want to repeat his mistakes with Janeway; he didn't want to start blindly accusing Starfleet officers of being Klingon spies. He took a deep breath and smiled at the man. "I'm Captain James Kirk, of the starship _Enterprise._"

"James T. Kirk?" another voice exclaimed, off screen. The second voice sounded much younger than the man on the screen. "You didn't tell me it was going to be James T. Kirk!"

The man on the screen rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't have to tell you anything, you should already know."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. But I am now."

Kirk tugged at his uniform and forced himself to keep smiling. The man on the screen, if his insignia was an accurate indication, was a captain. He didn't seem to be acting like one, but Kirk would give him the benefit of the doubt. For now. "Where are we?" he asked. "And who are you?"

"You haven't moved," the man replied simply. "And I'm… a friend."

Kirk immediately crossed his arms across his chest, then just as quickly let them fall to his sides. He leveled his voice, "We can always use more friends, but I'm afraid I'm going to need more information than that."

The man chuckled. "Oh, you're in no position to be making demands, Captain." He snapped his fingers and the viewscreen went black.

The very same moment, in a flash of light, he appeared on the bridge, accompanied by a younger man – _alien_ – who bore a striking resemblance to the first. The younger man also wore a Starfleet uniform, and was decorated with captain's insignia on his cuffs.

The security team sprung forward, drawing their weapons but Kirk held up a hand, stopping them, and looked at the visitors calmly. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

"Captain Kirk, it's a pleasure." The man extended his hand. "I find it hard to believe we haven't met before."

**…**

Chakotay held onto her like an anchor in turbulent waters. She was the lighthouse in his storm; the fire in his desolate, icy tundra; the river in his dry, barren desert. A dozen metaphors flashed through his head, each of them painfully true. He was keenly aware that this reality would dissolve at any moment – which, at the back of his mind, he thought might actually be a blessing; too much of this rampant, unchecked joy and Chakotay was genuinely fearful that his heart might explode out of his chest.

He wanted to say "I told you so," but she refused to let his lips part from hers long enough to form words. The entire ship was behind them, cheering their support; as they had always been – he had been right, she had been wrong. If he was younger, that realization might have brought him anger, indignation, resentment; he wouldn't have been able to move past the years she had thrown away for absolutely no reason whatsoever. But that other person… that man he was and, thanks to her, would never be again, was far away from the bridge today. All he felt was ecstasy, and the tingling warmth that flowed between them. It was palpable, like if he let his hand part from her he could reach out and touch the love that was burning from within them, the smoke from their fire spreading rapidly around their bodies, consuming the bridge, the deck, the ship, the universe.

The crew was clapping still, though he could barely hear it over the sound of his pounding heart. How long had they been clapping? A minute, two? Five?

A shadow of a thought flickered in his mind, though he tried to shoo it away; when had Tuvok declared them to have but one minute left of this life? When had the applause started? How many times had their lips parted to draw in oxygen? If his heart was a ticking bomb, how many seconds did he have left?

Time had seemed to stop – suspended around them like a frozen holoprogram.

But you couldn't arrest time by sheer force of will; it stopped for no one.

A bucket of ice water crashed over him and in a moment of disconcerting, heartbreaking clarity, he pulled away from her – crushed by the look of unrestrained longing in her eyes that he was terrified he might never see again.

"Something's wrong," he whispered through heavy breaths.

He watched as the unrestrained longing in her eyes vanished with startling haste. She took a step back and looked down, giving her head a small shake, as if drying herself off. When she looked up, Kathryn had been replaced with Captain Janeway – the transformation had taken but a second, and as the applause continued to echo around them, he realized no one saw it but him.

**…**

Kirk stared at the hand that was extended to him, feeling the battle raging within him. Then with unflappable authority, he reached out and shook it confidently. "Are you related to the Squire of Gothos?"

"What?" asked the alien, taken aback.

Kirk had only met one being with the power that this one seemed to control – the power to manipulate the particles of space and time, and it was a being he had hoped never to meet again. "Trelane? The Squire of Gothos?"

The man narrowed his eyes. "Trelane… I don't wish to discuss that _vermin_. I'm here to focus on your problems, not mine."

"And what problems are those, may I ask?" asked Kirk, pensively.

The being jammed his finger at the viewscreen. "You were about to fly yourselves into that vortex and ruin _everything!_"

"It's imperative we get back home, to our own time-frame, or else we… may cease to exist."

"Oh?"

Kirk swallowed and explained to the beings the unfortunate chain of events that would ensue should they be left here: his future (_Voyager_'s past) would be altered and _Voyager _probably would never have existed. If _Voyager _never existed, the _Enterprise _would have been crushed in the collapse of the first wormhole. If the _Enterprise _was destroyed… well, all hell would break loose. It was a wicked time travel paradox and _almost_ made Kirk see the logic behind this so-called "Temporal Prime Directive."

The younger alien rolled his eyes as Kirk finished. "That's not you talking, Jimbo. That's Kathy."

"Quite right, son," the other one responded. "Shall we?"

Kirk was vaguely aware of the sounds of protest his officers made as the alien waved his hand with a flourish, and with another blast of bright, white light they were on the bridge of _Voyager. _Instantly, he was fully aware of the scene around them. The captain and commander were looking at each other, rather sadly, as the applause continued to echo around the room. At the unexpected entrance, they pulled further away from each other, their deathbed confessions of love coming to a grinding halt.

Both aliens spoke at once, clamoring over each other. "I knew it!" the older alien exclaimed_. _"I _knew _you were in love with him!"

"Aunt Kathy!" said the younger man excitedly, speaking over the first. "Did you miss me?"

"Q…" the captain breathed immediately, glaring at the elder. "What do you think you're doing?"

Q waved his hand dismissively. "Trying to keep you from mucking everything up."

Captain Kirk drew back as the words slowly registered. "_Aunt _Kathy?Do you know these beings?"

Kathryn raised her hand to her forehead and sighed. "Unfortunately, yes." She looked at the invaders. "I did miss you, Q, but this is no time for your games. Release whatever… _hold_ you have over the vortex; we _need _to send the _Enterprise _home. Now."

Q ignored her and took a vacant seat, bringing his feet up to rest on someone's station. "The Continuum is in need of your assistance."

Kathryn sighed. "What else is new? Do you want to try and mate with me again?"

Kirk watched as Chakotay shifted uncomfortably next to her, then his gaze wandered back to the alien called Q – were they both called Q? – realizing in no uncertain terms the level of familiarity this captain shared with this Trelane-esque nuisance. He felt himself slipping into anger; anger at the circumstances that brought them here, the circumstances that would send them back, the general lack of control it all resulted in. Never before had he relinquished all his power – not to another captain, certainly not to the hand of fate. The tension inside of him was building, all of it directed at this godlike being called "Q" who was sitting smugly, his shoes disrespectfully parked atop a navigational console.

"You're going to defeat the Kazon and defend Bilstreeca," said Q. The look of surprise that washed over the room was evident; it was clearly not his usual kind of request.

Captain Janeway simply crossed her arms and stared at the alien, as if a being of that kind of power would wither and fold under the intensity of her gaze. The tone of his voice as he gave them an _order _was the final straw; Kirk found himself unable to relinquish control any longer. Before anyone could protest, he stalked towards the alien, grabbing him by his collar and yanking him up from the seat. An initial look of surprise clouded Q's features, but it quickly faded into amusement – which added fuel to Kirk's rage. He slammed the alien against the wall, his fists tightening around the fabric of his golden 23rd century uniform.

"You… don't get to give us orders," he said through clenched teeth. "I demand you release us!"

Both Q burst into a fit of laughter. Kirk responded the only way he could when diplomacy failed – with a swift upper-cut.

The alien's head flew back for a brief moment but he was, of course, unaffected. "Now why have I spent so many years trying to get a rise out of Picard? You're much more fun," he smiled. "Hopefully we'll have more time to play later. But as of right now, I have actual business to discuss with Kathy. So… _good-bye, _Captain."

Yet another flash of white light and Kirk was _once again _transported against his will – this time with every other member of the bridge, except for the captain.

**…**

Teerik's eyes grew wide and he looked over at his wife. "Do you…"

Leeka smiled and nodded. "Yes. I have never experienced that before."

"Me neither," he responded, looking off into the distance.

"What is it?" asked Naomi, peering over the kadis-kot board.

Neelix, who took over the babysitting duties when Nurse Chapel… disappeared, had set them up in the corner of the mess hall to play the game while he nervously paced about, staring out the windows and into space; waiting to be thrust backwards seven days into his past. He had paused to express his excitement as the image of Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay kissing appeared on the communications panel in the mess hall, but he then quickly resumed his nervous pacing. The children found his jitteriness a source of profound amusement.

Leeka met Naomi's eyes. "The universe had intervened," she responded.

The half-Ktarian was yet again puzzled by these children and their odd choice of words. They almost sounded like Seven of Nine. "Intervened in what?"

"Our demise," Leeka said simply. "Your captain would never have been able to defeat the Kazons without help from the Resistance. She was sending herself on a suicide mission. And, in the end, neither _Voyager _or Bilstreeca would have survived."

Naomi tilted her head and considered this information. "How do you know?"

The Bilstreecan's brow furrowed in thought. "I just… know."

Naomi readily accepted this answer; these children seemed to have at least some kind of perceptive ability beyond what she was capable of. "Well, that means that the captain and commander can finally have their happily ever after, right?"

Leeka looked at Teerik, who responded instead. "I do not understand."

She sighed and contemplated starting from the beginning… but the truth was, she couldn't remember the beginning. Their love story began before she was even born. In Naomi's mind, Captain Janeway and Chakotay had always been in love. The knowledge was as standard as the knowledge that _Voyager_'s ultimate goal was to return to the Alpha Quadrant, even if no one talked about it.

"Will they be together now? Like... like husband and wife?"

Teerik looked off into the stars, as if searching them for the answer to Naomi's question. He looked back at her and shook his head. "I don't know."

**…**

"What did you do with my crew?" Janeway demanded furiously. She headed over to Harry's station – regardless of Q's answer, she'd find them and bring them back.

He followed her and sighed. "Relax, Kathy. They're in cargo bay two. You and I just need to talk… without those distractions."

Janeway remained silent until she had pulled up each missing crewmember's lifesign. Q was telling the truth… for once. They were all in cargo bay two with, she assumed, her godson – as he had disappeared in the same explosion of light. She sincerely hoped Captain Kirk wouldn't try another stunt of violence and test Q Junior's patience. She wanted to communicate with him that – and it genuinely pained her to admit it even to herself – that Q wasn't the bad guy, though he certainly enjoyed walking that line. And with him it was a very, very thin line. But was he malevolent? No. Juvenile? Incredibly.

Perhaps Chakotay would be able to convince Kirk of that, although a part of her was unsure if Chakotay would even agree.

_Chakotay. _

The instant his name entered her mind, she felt an icy grip clutch at her heart and her whole body went cold. She fought to regain her previous composure; from the instant the troublesome Q, and an irate Captain Kirk, had appeared on her bridge she had been all-Starfleet. But with an unexpected rush, the emotions attached to her personal problems hit her like a freight train… or, rather, with the intensity of a forced plasma beam. She gripped the edges of the console and steadied her breath. They _needed _to send the _Enterprise _through the conduit.

Q's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "Kathy…?"

She looked up from the console and met Q's eyes, forcing her voice to remain even. She tried a tactic she knew would be futile: compromise. "We are going to fight the Kazons, Q. After the _Enterprise _returns to the Alpha Quadrant, we'll be right back where we started; in their path. If you'd just release your hold over… the universe, we'd be engaged in battle in just a few hours."

Q shook his head. "You wouldn't survive. What's keeping your ship from being detected?"

Kathryn pursed her lips. "A device given to us by the Resistance. We may not have the upper-hand anymore, but…"

"Don't fool yourself into thinking you'd be any kind of a match against them. With the technology they have…" Q trailed off, waving his hand and breaking eye-contact with her. "They would take you out before you even knew what had happened."

"We need to send the _Enterprise _home," she repeated. She closed the distance between them and looked him in the eye. "_Now."_

Q frowned and snapped his fingers, his eyes never breaking from hers. "There. No more wormhole. And we're all still alive, aren't we?"

Janeway drew back sharply and looked at the viewscreen; filled with nothing but stars. Endless stars, the verteron emanations had vanished. Her stomach tightened and she fought to stay composed. She rapidly ran a scan through all available sensors, but nothing came up. According to the sensors, there had never been a wormhole there, at all – there should have been remnant traces of the verteron particles, some kind of evidence of a tear in the fabric of space. There was nothing.

Her breath caught in her throat and she laid her hands flat on the cold metal in front of her – steadying her trembling hands. She wasn't really surprised to still be alive; as mad as Q was she doubted he would have willingly sentenced them all to death. Instead, the countless decisions that had been made because of their trust – _her trust_ – in this foiled inevitability flashed through her mind. How much knowledge did the crew of the _Enterprise _have about their futures, about the future of the Federation? How could they possibly forget what they've learned? She had no neuralyzer to point at the crew to flash away their memories. And what was she going to do about Chakotay? _Oh Chakotay, _she thought with a grimace. _The entire ship saw us._

She couldn't even blame Tom Paris; in his shoes she wasn't sure if she wouldn't have done the exact same thing.

She looked back at Q, her trepidation turning to rage burning in her eyes. "What did you do?" she seethed, her voice dangerously low.

He ignored her and paced the room. "The Continuum is requesting your service. Is there any higher honor?"

"I can think of _many._"

"You have no excuse now – just return to Bilstreeca and stop the Kazons from taking over."

"Tell me what this is really about," she demanded.

Q let out an exaggerated sigh. "All right. It began as an_… experiment_. About a thousand years ago, a star went supernova and consumed a planet in a neighboring galaxy."

"A neighboring _galaxy?_" she said, straining to understand how the death of a planet in a different galaxy could have any relevancy to their predicament now.

He waved her off. "Distance is meaningless to an omnipotent being, you know this. The planet was very advanced. Much more advanced than any in your Federation. They knew the star would supernova, and they evacuated the planet and set course to find another habitable one, bringing with them their immense stores of technology. They found a planet to settle on, but quickly discovered the planet was home to a unique virus that wiped them out completely… leaving nothing but their abandoned technology."

Kathryn nodded along, afraid of where this was going. "So…?"

"_So, _we thought it would be an interesting social experiment to drop the advanced technology off on a primitive species, and see what happened."

Kathryn's eyes widened in horror; that was exactly where she feared the story would lead. "Leerig told Kirk and Chakotay that the technology was given to them by their god. They think _you're _their god," she said with disgust. "That's a terrible thing to do to a civilization." She shook her head and walked away from him. "Even for you."

"I didn't say I was proud of it! But now, here we are! I can't have the destruction of their planet on my conscience, Kathy, you have to help us."

"You have a conscience?"

"Yes, I do. And I don't want to see their unnecessary deaths. Especially at the hands of the Kazon."

"So… you expect us to step in and clean up your mess?"

Q shrugged and nodded. "What else are you underdeveloped, minor bipedal species good for?"

"No, Q," she breathed. "Because of you, the Bilstreecans have no way of taking care of themselves. _You _go and clean up your own mess."

"You have no one to blame but yourself, Captain. You thrust your Federation ideals upon us, and they've spread throughout the whole Continuum! We've adopted your Prime Directive! We cannot muddle into the lives of Bilstreeca, using our _infinite_ powers to solve their problems."

"You _created _their problems. Can't you simply… reverse your actions?"

"Sure. But that would change this timeline entirely. How do you know the new timeline wouldn't be worse?"

She buried her face in her hands. "What about the _Enterprise?_"

He shrugged again. "We'll figure it out," he said with nonchalance.

"And what about…" she trailed off, unwilling to invite Q into her personal problems.

"What about… you and Chakotay?" he asked.

Her head snapped up at his directness. "What do you know about that?"

He rolled his eyes. "We arrived just in time to catch the last few moments of your… display. I didn't know you had it in you. Almost makes me think your refusal to procreate with me was my loss, not yours." He grinned. "Almost."

She stared off into the distance, allowing herself a rare moment of inner contemplation before she let the new crisis consume her. She had no idea what this meant. She had made… promises to him; promises she was now unable to keep. What would that do to them? If it had been difficult to move past New Earth... it might be impossible to move past this.

**…**

Kirk stared at Chakotay while he paced the room in silence, watching as a parade of emotions marched across his face – the one waving the biggest banner was fear. The instant Q had foiled the inevitable reset, the silver lining in Kirk's mind was the opportunity for Janeway and Chakotay. If nothing else, if they were unable to save Bilstreeca from the Kazons, if Kirk and the _Enterprise _were stuck out here for another thirty years, at least the captain and commander could be together.

But something in Chakotay's eyes told him that he felt differently.

As soon as the bridge crew had appeared in the cargo bay, Kirk had lunged at the younger alien – determined to inflict some kind of pain. He was quickly stopped by Janeway's officers; who assured him that his actions were in vain. Considering the levity of the situation, the officers seemed reasonably tranquil. None of them were exuding the heat of conflict like Chakotay was, which led Kirk to one theory:

The only thing on the commander's mind was Kathryn Janeway.

He searched his mind for some words to offer as comfort, but he was feeling uncharacteristically inarticulate. Kirk didn't want to offer up empty platitudes; he wanted to offer real assurance, real advice. He wished Dr. McCoy was here; he'd know exactly what to say.

As soon as Kirk stood to make his way over to the first officer – deciding that some words were better than none at all – the young alien approached him instead. "Q Junior" the crew had been calling him.

"Captain Kirk?"

Hesitantly, he tore his eyes away from Chakotay, who was looking worse and worse by the nanosecond. "Yes?"

"We need to talk."

**…**

"Should we go after him?" asked Sulu.

Chekov sighed. "I don'd know vhat vee could possibly do for him."

Uhura's hand floated over her communications console, not wanting to initiate a hail without authorization – but no order was coming. "Mr. Spock?" she asked finally. "Do you want me to hail _Voyager_?"

Spock drew his hands behind his back. "No, Lieutenant. I am sure the captain is dealing with larger issues than answering our questions."

"So, we just wait?"

"We wait."

The turbolift doors opened to McCoy, a look of humorous resignation plastered on his face. "Well. They took Jim again?"

"It would appear so," Spock replied.

"Are we going to do anything?"

"Not yet," said Spock, moving to take his seat in the captain's chair.

McCoy chuckled. "And the wormhole?"

"It has disappeared."

"Do we know why?"

"Negative, doctor."

"_Scotty to the bridge," _came the engineer's voice over the intercom. "_Did they take the Cap'n again?" _

"Yes, Scotty," replied McCoy calmly. "We should re-name the story: Kirk's Kidnapping."

"_And the wormhole?" _

"Vanished. I guess we're stuck out here."

"_Well, I saw that comin'. Scotty out." _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So, most of you probably saw that coming. BUUUT, um, this story is 100% self-indulgence and next to the TOS trio, Janeway, and Chakotay… he's my favorite character. So I had to. Now if I could only find some way to work in Ambassador Troi from TNG. And Odo from DS9. Hmmm... :) And for anyone who didn't know what the #$% I was talking about – Trelane was the original Q. He wasn't _nearly_ as fun as our Q, though.


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